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Gammons: Astros Expect Clemens Back

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Peter Gammons’s inside info on Roger Clemens in this morning’s blog has received surprisingly little press.  His stance:

"…Unless owner Drayton McLane kills this (yeah, right), the Astros expect Clemens to sign on May 1, work out with Koby’s minor-league team, and make his first start June 2 against the Reds."

Our source pretty much had this pegged back in December.  That means my 144 inning projection in my Fantasy Guide should hold up well; he’s still probably a top 25 starter in just two-thirds of a season.

What I don’t get is why Clemens needs to milk $15MM (or whatever) out of the Astros for the ’06 season.  We all thought it was somewhat noble of him to "settle" for $5MM for his 2004 comeback.  If he’d asked for twice that maybe Houston doesn’t go get Beltran and doesn’t end up in the NLCS. 

But Roger pretty much ruined his goodwill when he decided to compensate for his 2004 gift by demanding an $18MM salary in 2005.  If the Astros had acquired a decent hitter at the trading deadline, they would’ve at least put up more of a fight in the World Series.  If Clemens keeps his demands unnecessarily high and Bagwell forces his way into the lineup, the Astros have absolutely no hope of acquiring reinforcements through trade. 

And now to go off on a tangent. I’m all for guys like Gammons and Stark producing more content that’s presumably published more quickly.  But is anyone reading these things?  They should be called BINOs – Blogs In Name Only.  Their subscriber wall is killing the spread of traffic that is supposed to be the hallmark of blogs.  It doesn’t really matter given this problem, outlined by Aaron Gleeman:

"…As far as I can tell none of the dozen or so blogs ESPN.com hosts actually link to other blogs. For instance, Olney’s blog is made up primarily of links to outside stories and his brief comments on them, but in nearly a year I can’t remember a single link that wasn’t to a mainstream newspaper."

That comment helped garner Gleeman a one-time link from Jayson Stark’s blog, but it’s not becoming a regular occurence.  I do like the conversational style seen in ESPN’s recent blogs, though Gammons and Stark kind of write informally in their columns anyway.  But all griping aside, I still think ESPN’s subscription price is well worth forty bucks a year.  No, they didn’t pay me to say that.

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Source: Clemens To Return To Astros

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A source out of Houston close to former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker tells me that Roger Clemens will return to pitch for the Astros after May 1st.  The word is that Clemens has a handshake deal with Astros owner Drayton McLane to either return to the Astros or retire.  My source says that Clemens will not choose retirement.

This report gels with an independent source who informed me in December that Clemens was choosing between Houston and retirement.  Of course, Clemens was noncommital in yesterday’s conference call, mentioning that his mother had urged him to retire before she passed away. 

Rosenthal Is Blunt On Clemens

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Ken Rosenthal pulls no punches in his article today, telling it like it is on all sorts of pressing baseball issues.  It’s like his editors told him to inject an extra dose of attitude into today’s column.

On the Rocket:  "Is there anything more tired than the annual Clemens courtship ritual? Clemens’ flirtations with the Red Sox, Yankees and Rangers are merely designed to get him top dollar from the Astros."

I have to agree; the Clemens thing feels like deja vu all over again and it’s a shame that this is currently one of the biggest stories.  Let’s play some ball already!

On Bonds:  "Even if Bonds stays healthy, his passing of Ruth likely would be met with ambivalence outside of San Francisco, even anger. Unknowingly or not, Bonds used substances alleged to be steroids."

I know a lot of folks feel this way, but I’m in the minority.  I’m not going to worship Bonds as a role model, but I have to witness in person the greatest player of my generation.  I’ll be in attendance when the Cubs host the Giants in early September, and I’m going to tell my grandkids about watching Bonds play.  Unless he sits that day, in which case I’ll be really pissed.

On Bagwell:  "…sympathy for the Astros should go only so far — they’re the ones who awarded Bagwell a back-loaded, five-year contract when he was 32."

No kidding!  Same goes for the Yankees when 35 year-old Johnny Damon is earning $13MM to bumble around in center field in 2009.  I have a feeling, though, that the Yankees won’t be complaining as they’re fully aware that 2009 is a sunk cost here.

Latest Roger Clemens Buzz

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This might be an example of Red Sox fans reaching for any indication that Roger Clemens is likely to sign with their team.  But there was an interesting piece of info yesterday over at BornIntoIt.com:

"With Al Nipper now assuming the duties of interim pitching coach, it brings up an interesting scenario. When he pitched for the Sox in the mid-1980s, one of his best buddies on the team was Roger Clemens. Nipper has maintained a close friendship with Clemens since he left the Red Sox in 1996. With Clemens now a free agent, could this be an incentive for a possible Clemens return to Fenway?"

This same concept appeared two months ago alongside the possibility of the Red Sox signing Brad Ausmus to lure Clemens.  Also, according to Gordon Edes’s article from a few days ago, John Flaherty has experience catching Roger.  So it seems that he could fill the personal catcher role to some extent.  The only problem with this concept is that Flaherty is already expected to be Tim Wakefield’s catcher, and the Red Sox would probably not want him behind the plate 40% of the time given his anemic bat.  I’m sure they could work something out though. 

Clemens’s agent Randy Hendricks finally commented via email to the New York Times yesterday:

"I continue to say that nothing will be decided until after the World Baseball Classic," the agent, Randy Hendricks, said in an e-mail message. "It is a five-horse race between Retirement, Boston, Houston (post May 1), New York, and Texas (alphabetical order except for the lead horse, named Retirement)." 

Red Sox To Pursue Clemens

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The Boston Herald’s Gerry Callahan reported today that the Red Sox "as we speak are preparing to make a serious offer to one Roger Clemens."  Not so coincidentally, it’s a slow news day, with the Phillies’ hot pursuit of the other Alex Gonzalez a top story.

Apparently the Red Sox know Clemens won’t be lured by money (he’s made over $120MM in salary in his career) so they are going a different route:

"The Sox’ pitch will include a slick video presentation that features a number of Red Sox fans imploring the Rocket to finish his career where it began.  This is not a Theo idea or a Larry idea; it comes straight from chairman Tom Werner, the Hollywood producer who is making sure the Sox’ sales pitch is Oscar quality. They may not land the Rocket, but Werner is demanding they give it their best shot."

Do Boston fans really want Clemens back?  I should put up a poll or something.  Regardless, every source I’ve ever spoken to about this insists that Clemens’s options are the Astros and retirement.  Roger’s personal catcher is there and the team is bending over backwards to accomodate him.  As I said in December, an undeserved promotion of Koby Clemens to Double A might seal the deal.  While Koby plays in the Astros’ farm system, his Class A team resides in New York.

Latest Astros Buzz

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Today we’ve got some Astros info for you to digest.

According to an emailer, Richard Justice recently spoke with Astros GM Tim Purpura on Sports Radio 610.  Here’s what came out of the discussion:

The Astros aren’t expecting much from Jeff Bagwell, surprise surprise.  The main concern is, of course, his inability to throw.  In Brian McTaggart’s article in the Houston Chronicle today, he mentions that Bagwell "will have his shoulder analyzed next week by respected orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham."  Expect Bags to be relegated to pinch-hitting duties given the Preston Wilson signing.  I don’t have anything new on the Astros’ interest in White Sox righthander Jose Contreras, but Willy Taveras could be expendable given Wilson’s ability to play center field.

Purpura spoke to Roger Clemens two days ago at Minute Maid.  Clemens has not cleaned out his locker in at the ballpark.  I still believe that Clemens will return to the Astros in mid-June.

Today in the Baltimore Sun, Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly mention that "The Red Sox, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs appear to be the leaders in the Tejada sweepstakes." Adam Everett and Brandon Backe are certainly available on the Astros, but it’ll obviously require a lot more than that to get Miguel Tejada.  Brad Lidge won’t be involved in any deal for the shortstop.

I’ll see if I can dig up any additional info on these topics.

Astros Or Retirement For Clemens

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Plenty of buzz going around about Roger Clemens entertaining new teams such as the Red Sox, Yankees, or Rangers for the 2006 season.  According to my Astros source, however, Clemens is again choosing between the Astros and retirement.

Houston Chronicle writer Brian McTaggart has confirmed that Brad Ausmus is very close to signing a two-year pact with the Astros.  It’s well known that Clemens does not want to pitch for any other catcher, and the Red Sox tried in vain to lure Ausmus out East.  Boston was never really an option for Ausmus, who wants to be a starter and considered only San Diego as an alternative.

According to my Astros source, look for Clemens to return to Houston and start taking advantage of some of his previously negotiated perks.  In 2006, Clemens would skip more road trips to stay with his family.  Look for Roger to pull a few strings and try to get the Astros to promote his son Koby to the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double A club located in Texas).  Third baseman Koby has played just nine games at Class A with the Tri City ValleyCats in New York.  In addition, Roger has a ten-year agreement to work for the Astros after retirement to work with the club’s young players.

After pitching in the World Baseball Classic, expect Clemens to take a few months off and return to the Astros around mid-June.  His salary will certainly be less than $18MM, and the team will hopefully have acquired the improved offensive players Clemens desires.   

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