Rocket Launch

Greensboro, NC – The most absurd news of the 2007 baseball season took place yesterday in front of 50,000 New Yorkers. Roger “The Rocket” Clemens has decided for the fourth time in four years to come out of retirement and pitch a short season. I can just see the Yankee triumphant of Steinbrenner, Cashman, and Torre on their knees begging (and waving cash). With the Yankee pitching staff in shambles (10 starters in 30 games!), the least that this could do is boost the confidence of the team. However, the team already leads the league in payroll at $195M. Clemens and his agent played this perfectly using the Astros and Red Sox to drive up the bidding price for his services. They reached a pro-rated deal for 1 year and $28M, which comes out to about $18.5M when it’s spread out over the final four months. Only one word can sum this up: asinine. The guy is 45 years old and you’re going to pay $4.5M/month? Yes, he is very good and he currently has 348 career victories. That’s 15 away from Warren Spahn – about 10 years ago, it was almost unthinkable that anyone would reach 363 in the post 1930’s era. Maybe this year and next year, he could catch Spahn?

What does Clemens have left to prove? He has 2 World Series rings, multiple Cy Young Awards in both leagues, MVP awards, All Star elections, Gold Gloves, etc. Cash? I looked up the amount of career earnings this guy has made and it’s roughly $130M. His great grandchildren won’t ever get to spend all of it. New York offered him $10 M more than the Astros, his home-town team. But, there’s no income tax in Texas so it’s safe to say, he’ll only be making a tad bit more with the Yankees. There is no reason why this guy should play anymore. He’s done it all. I think he, like everyone else, wants to be the savior of the franchise. He wants to resurrect this cash cow and put it back in the World Series pasture for the 27th time. Picture this, Clemens on a white horse leading the cavalry charge over the hated Red Sox. But get this, it won’t happen because the Sox have 4 very good starters who will win the division. It’ll be a dogfight for the AL Wild Card with that mess in the Central – Cleveland, Minnesota, Detroit, and Chicago.

Clemens, Pettitte, Mussina, Wang vs. Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Wakefield.

I’ll take the Sox over the old guys.

Happy Birthday, Mom!