Roger Clemens, perhaps the greatest living pitcher, is plagued
with a difficult decision: should he retire or should he keep
playing. If he wants to keep playing, then where should he go?
Boston? New York? Houston? Arlington? The AtHomePlate staff offers
their opinions as to just what the Rocket should do for the 2006
season.
…Sign with the Astros
Bryan Roth
Dear Roger,
Look, we know you want to come back. We want you to come back.
We want to help you help us.
What more can we do? The team is right at the top of the division.
Remember last year? I'm sure you can recall how things were last
year for us around this time and just how much we've improved
since then. It's not like we're fighting for a wild card spot,
this year it's for all the marbles - and wouldn't you want to
be a part of that?
You see, we'd be more than happy to pay you $3 or even $4 million
a month if that's what it takes. If money is what you want, we've
got it for you. But let's be honest, we both know this is about
family too.
If you come back to Houston, you can see your family as much as
you want. Practices are important, but four out of five days you
can hang with the wife and kids. Once a week, sometimes twice
on rare occasions, we'll need you to go out there on the mound
and the best part is we've got a solid offense to get you the
"W."
Not only that, but if your son plays all his cards right, maybe
we'll just throw in a September call-up for Koby. Nothing is more
family oriented than a father and son playing catch right before
a big divisional game, right?
If this is going to be your swan song, don't you want it to be
with the reigning NL Champs? Who's not to say we can't repeat?
And with you, well, we both know we've got a good shot as any
team. And who knows, when you come back to the Astros maybe the
Cy Young voters will realize what an impact you had when we end
up with the best record in the National League.
Roger, I hope I'll be seeing you soon.
Best,
Tim Purpura
…Sign with the Rangers
Jon Leshanski
Roger Clemens has no shortage of suitors for his services two
months into the season, but the team he should most be considering
is the Texas Rangers. There are a ton of reasons for this, as
well as strikes against the other teams competing for his services.
Certainly all the teams are contenders and not a one of them couldn’t
be improved by the Rocket’s presence on the mound -- but
Clemens isn’t coming back to make a team just a little better,
he wants to go out with a bang and ideally with another ring on
his finger. He’s been to the biggest show with the Astros,
Red Sox and Yankees already -- basically been there done that.
Of course it’s a case of been there done that for all of
them. Well all of them but the Rangers. And maybe that’s
a reason that Clemens should consider the Rangers more than anyone
else – he’s dealt with Red Sox nation and their ire
when he left, he dealt with Yankee animosity when he came out
of retirement and he devoted two seasons to the Astros only to
find they couldn’t get it done because of lack of offense.
All of which are reasons the Rocket should look in a new direction.
But there are other reasons the other teams don’t really
compare. The Astros haven’t improved the team enough offensively
-- Preston Wilson is not an answer -- to push them over the top
and clearly they are in the National League’s toughest division,
The Yankees are a older team, fragile in the extreme and struggling
just to fight off the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the American Leagues
toughest division -- something the Red Sox need to deal with too.
Of course the Sox aren’t the same Sox who won the World
Series back in ’05 and they are dependant on just two players
to really drive the offense -- the same disastrous recipe that
the Astros folded with for Clemens.
There may also be one other major factor against those teams
-- on no other team would Roger Clemens be the number one pitcher.
Could that be a factor? It might be. Clemens has been an ace his
whole career taking a backseat only when absolutely necessary.
He’ll never be that guy in Boston after Schilling’s
bloody sock World Series. He won’t be that guy in New York
-- not with Randy Johnson committed to the team for seasons to
come and earning $18 million a season and he won’t be that
guy in Houston where Roy Oswalt has a multiyear tenure as the
ace of the staff. Clemens in any of those cities is a talented
number two pitcher as far as pitching depth goes in those cities.
In Arlington, home of the Rangers he’d be the Man. He’d
also be pitching in front of one of the best young offenses in
the game for a team who hasn’t yet tapped their full potential.
The Rangers have a good team, a very good team and they for the
first time in their history would have a pitching staff good enough
to beat anyone if Clemens joined the rotation. Millwood -- who’s
a number two pitcher at heart -- would be made even better and
the Rangers would have a one and two which could match up with
the best in any league.
Of course the Rangers can match anyone when it comes to money
and they can allow him to choose just what he does with his off-days
and where he spends them. On top of that he has a chance to be
a home state hero for both leagues -- because the fans in Arlington
would adore him as much as Astros fans did.
In a nutshell, Clemens wants to go out with a bang and you’d
be hard pressed to find another team in their prime poised and
ready to take their game to the next level and win him another
World Series Ring.
…Sign with the Boston Red Sox
By Frank Bundy III
Roger Clemens, the best place to play your final season in the
big leagues is in the same place you as played your first, in
Boston as a Red Sox. Remember winning your first 192 games as
a Red Sox? Remember striking out your first 2950 batters as a
Red Sox? Remember winning three Cy Young Awards as a Red Sox?
Remember winning the 1986 AL MVP, as a Red Sox? Those were the
days, huh?
Yes, the Red Sox were stupid to let you walk after your 1996
season (3.63 ERA in 242.7 IP with 257 K’s), but the regime
that ran that Red Sox team no longer reigns in Boston. The new
front office, led by Larry Lucchino, Tom Werner, and Theo Epstein
are competent, and will treat you with the respect you deserve.
Oh, and by the way, have the money to pay you what you would like.
Also, don’t forget how the City of Boston embraced you
when they thought you were pitching your final game at Fenway,
even though you were in Pinstripes.
Oh yeah, remember how you only won 13 games last season, despite
your 1.87 ERA, because of the horrible run support the Houston
Astros gave you? If you join the Red Sox, you’ll win that
many games in a half-season because there will be no shortage
of runs scored on that offense.
Also, the thought of pitching alongside Curt Schilling, and the
25-year-old version of you -- Josh Beckett -- can only trigger
visions of World Series trophies be hoisted high above your head.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that another pitcher that will
be joining you in that rotation will be one of your former teammates
with the Red Sox, Tim Wakefield.
But, pitching alongside “The Wake” wouldn’t
be the only reuniting going on if you decide to come back as a
Red Sox. Your pitching coach would be former teammate Al Nipper.
Bring your career full circle Mr. Clemens. Reunite with old teammates,
come back to the city that embraced you even though their front
office was too ignorant to keep you, pitch in a rotation that
will be in a class of its own, win some games, make some serious
money, and most importantly, give yourself the best chance at
winning the World Series.
Come back home Roger.
…Sign with the New York Yankees
By Danyel Jones
Roger Clemens, the best place for you to be is back in the Bronx.
In five successful seasons in pinstripes you:
• won two World Series rings in four attempts
• won a Cy Young award
• made 2 All-Star teams
• Recorded your 300th win and 4000th strikeout
• Most importantly you compiled a winning record of 77-36
with a 3.99 ERA.
There are many other reasons why you should consider re-joining
the Yankees. Besides being the most decorated franchise in baseball
the New York Yankees will be able to:
• show you the money (just name your price and we’ll
pay it)
• give you run support -- the Yankees have the best line
up in baseball and have scored the second-most runs in the Majors
• give you a better chance at winning the World Series than
any of your other suitors
A few other minor but equally important reasons why you should
come back to the Bronx:
• you’ll be pitching alongside fellow future Hall
of Famer Randy Johnson
• you’ll be rejoining your favorite manger Joe Torre
• you can handle pressure of pitching in New York
• the New York Yankee fans love and respect you. What Boston
Red Sox fans did your family was cruel; that would never happen
in the Bronx
…Retire
Scott Barzilla
I’d like to beseech you on behalf of baseball fans that
love history to retire now that you are ahead. You remember well
what happened to you in Game 2 of the World Series last season.
The same thing happened to you in Game 7 of the NLCS in 2005.
This is a sign of what is to come. People shouldn’t make
a living of telling living legends like yourself what they can
and can’t do, but what you should do is an entirely other
matter. You are coming off of the best season of your career and
you led your hometown team to its first World Series. What can
be better than that?
However, more important than your place in the game’s history
is the state of the game right now. Too much of the news is centered
on what Barry Bonds is doing and what you might do. People think
of him as a jerk first and great player second. You don’t
want the same reputation. That may come if you continue to jerk
teams around like you have been doing. Great players thrive in
the limelight, but it is time to give someone else a chance. There
are many great stories developing in baseball right now, but they
have been relegated to the backburner while the adoring masses
wait to see Barry hit 715 and you decide on your next address.
It says here that you should stay at home in the Woodlands.
Daniel is an AtHomePlate blogger;
to see his article archive, click
here.
Scott Barzilla
is the author of “Checks and Imbalances,” “The
State of Baseball Management,” and is looking forward to
his release of “On the Outside Looking” at the end
of 2006.
Bryan Roth is the
Prospect Pulse Blogger and covers
the Fantasy Ticker and Mailbag. Please send Bryan your fantasy
questions at AHPfantasybaseball@hotmail.com
