Astros to re-enter Clemens chase
Arrival of May means it’s time to woo Clemens
CINCINNATI - The Houston Astros, eligible to re-sign Roger Clemens again starting Monday, plan to contact the agents for the seven-time Cy Young Award winner. “This opens up a window of opportunity for us,” general manager Tim Purpura said today from Houston. “We have said that we are interested in getting Roger back. We would love to have him be a part of our team.”
Well, let me be the first to wish y’all a Happy Roger Clemens Day. Yes, today being May 1st, the Houston Astros can now begin negotiating with Clemens. Speculation seems to be running rampant, which you normally might not expect for a 43-year-old pitcher, but Clemens is hardly ready to head off to the Senior Shuffleboard Tour just yet. No one can say with any degree of certainty what the Rocket will do, but if nothing else, it provides sportswriters with an excuse to burn up some column inches.
Over the past few weeks, reports have had Clemens going back to the Yankees or Red Sox, and I suppose both would make for great stories. Going back to his hometown Astros would also be a popular move. Let’s face it, in the eyes of most Astros fans, Roger Clemens walks on water; the man can do no wrong. He was a major cog in the Astros’ turnaround from a 15-30 start to Houston’s first World Series last year, and after his performance in this spring’s World Baseball Classic, it would appear he can still be dominant. Of course, shutting down South Africa is not quite on the same level as shutting down the St. Louis Cardinals, but most Astros fans would willingly take that chance.
My own feeling is that Clemens will probably stay retired, even though teams will try to throw obscene amounts of money at him. Outside of feeding his competitve jones, what would Clemens gain by pitching this year? He already has more money than any one man has a right to, he’s an icon in the Houston community, and he still has children at home that he can spend time with. Will a few more million dollars really make that much difference? Or perhaps it really isn’t about the money at this point. Perhaps he’ll decide that he simply wants to prove that he still has it at 43.
If nothing else, the “will he or won’t he?” debate ought to keep things interesting at a time when baseball begins to settle into its normal midseason rhythm. Who would have thought that the thought processes of a 43-year-old pitcher would be dissected to such a minute degree?
