Clemens agrees to re-sign with Yankees
He’s outta here: Yankees attracted Clemens with deal that could pay him $18.5 million
Roger Clemens has snubbed the hometown Astros to return to the New York Yankees, the team he played with before joining the Astros in 2004. He made the announcement this afternoon at Yankee Stadium from the box of owner George Steinbrenner. An hour before the announcement, Clemens’ agent Randy Hendricks called Astros general manager Tim Purpura to inform him of the decision. While disappointed, the Astros weren’t exactly shocked. Moreover, Drayton McLane at least appreciated that he wasn’t left in limbo by Clemens again.
OK, so everyone’s going to have a reaction to the news that Roger Clemens won’t be pitching in Houston this summer. In fact, 2/5 of last year’s Astros starting rotation will be calling Yankee Stadium home. I’ve listened to interviews with all sorts of Astros fans, some of whom complain of feeling betrayed. For those folks, I have but one question. If someone offered you a prorated contract at $28 million, what would you do? I can only speak for myself, but were I to be faced with that question, there would one possible answer: HELL, YES…WHERE DO I SIGN?
Clemens will turn 45 in early August. At this point in his career, given his accomplishments, he should and does have the absolute to go where he chooses. Hey, there are worst places to end up than in Yankee pinstripes.
For you Astros fans who feel “betrayed”, though you are out of your ever-lovin’ minds if you feel that way, there is one bit of solace available: Clemens won’t be facing the Astros this summer.
Roger Clemens owes Houston sports fans nothing. The people he needs to take care of are himself and his family, which is likely why he made the decision he did. With the Yankees pitching situation being what it’s been so far this season, Joe Torre needs all the help he can get.
I think Clemens’ return is good for baseball. May is the time of the season when attention spans begin to wane. The playoffs are five months off, and there are, after all, 162 games to the season. It’s tough for some fans, myself included, to stay interested from Opening Day to Game 162.
Being only a couple years old than the Rocket myself, I’m happy for the man. Age may be just a number, but when your trying to throw fastballs past athletes who weren’t even alive when you first took the mound for Boston…well, I can’t imagine it gets any easier with age.
