Clemens to pitch for the Yankees

by pageian on May 6, 2007 2:41 PM CDT

Not much info yet but ESPN is reporting that Roger Clemens will pitch for the Yankees this year.

The impact for the Cubs of course is that he won't be pitching for the astros. I realize it's a little early but I think we can start writing off both the cardinals and the astros, leaving Milwaukee as our likely competitor for the division. The wild card probably won't come out of the central so it looks like we need to start kicking the brewers butts every time we play them from here on out.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Roger Clemens

is the devil.

by nickler on May 6, 2007 2:55 PM CDT reply actions

That's a mighty embarrasment to the devil

Go Nebraska Football!

by sanantonecub on May 6, 2007 3:08 PM CDT up reply actions

ha ha ha ha

you are awesome.

by nickler on May 6, 2007 4:54 PM CDT up reply actions

can we now nail the coffin shut

on the Astros?

by Chanman25 on May 6, 2007 3:10 PM CDT reply actions

Probably

Yeah, it looks like it. Hope so anyway, sure looks like they aren't a very good team this year.

by pageian on May 6, 2007 5:06 PM CDT up reply actions

@#*&%$!@# Yankees!

There's a story at Yahoo here

Oh, well, at least he isn't going to Houston...I'd hate to face him several times this year.

"Our country is the only one in the world with a national anthem that the last two words are "Play Ball!" -Anonymous

by Jettero2112 on May 6, 2007 3:13 PM CDT reply actions

Don't worry.

He'll suck and get hurt... again.

The man is milking the Yankees for $$. I think it's pretty funny. I hope he goes down in flames.

by nickler on May 6, 2007 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't want to see him get hurt

but a nice 5.76 era to finish out his career, and a fourth place finish for the Yankees would warm my cold, black heart.

by davidalanu on May 7, 2007 3:44 AM CDT up reply actions

Don't wish him an injury...

but for his selfish ass to tank and look horrible and then retire would be nice to see.

He sucks!

MMMMM...Hebrew National (That's THE bleacher dog BlueMike)

by Kinky Reggae on May 7, 2007 7:58 AM CDT up reply actions

Funny

that we've been hearing so much from the Hendrick's that Roger is in great shape and working out hard, but now it's going to take him weeks to get into shape. Sure he's got to stretch out his arm but isn't that the kind of thing he should have been doing in his workouts? Also funny that all the talk was of him wanting to spend time with his family etc etc... but you hear about him everyday, one long drama. He's really just a big attention whore.

by pageian on May 6, 2007 5:09 PM CDT reply actions

he's also a money whore

by nickler on May 6, 2007 5:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Too much money?

I read that he's going to make $28million.
Am I wrong?
That's a whole lotta money.
Unless he's filling 2 holes in the yankees rotation.

by cronoj on May 6, 2007 5:56 PM CDT reply actions

Can you believe that introduction?

Seventh inning surprise visit? ATTENTION FANS: ROGER CLEMENS IS NOW A YANKEE!

Whoopee.

The guy's chugging towards 50, plays half a season -- tops, and they cheer him like he's just personally guaranteed a world series. The Yanks are certainly paying him like he did -- if I were Roger Clemens, I'd go ahead and make the down payment for that solid gold rocket car.

"And heeeere come the pretzels!"

by NightPutting on May 6, 2007 6:04 PM CDT reply actions

Can the Astros now release Kody ?

or do the Yankees have to offer him a minor league contract
as part of Roger's deal which FYI will almost certainly include the " I don't have to travel on road trips when I am not scheduled to pitch" clause.
One more reason to hate the Yankees ( not like I needed one)

"It's the Cubbies. There's always a vibe. It's the greatest vibe in baseball." Greg Maddux on Cub fan's optimism even after the 06 debacle.

by jessica on May 6, 2007 6:05 PM CDT reply actions

Too Little Too Late For The Yankees

He didn't get the Astros a World Series win, and two years later on he won't do it for the Yankees. This is Steinbrenner pushing the panic button and opening his checkbook.

Santo Forever!

by BeerCub on May 6, 2007 8:06 PM CDT reply actions

to balance out the haters on here...

i'm excited about this. didn't want to see him in boston or houston. shores up a damaged yankees rotation. makes the east an interesting race...

as to his fitness, apparently he was planning on playing in late june. but the yankees asked him to come back earlier, so he said he's a few weeks away from being fully ready.

as to his age...yep, he's old. didn't seem to hurt him last year.

the red sox are over-achieving right now. the yanks are underachieving. let's see how this balances out at the end of the year...

by billywan on May 6, 2007 9:00 PM CDT reply actions

Yep

Nice post.

I don't hate the Yankees either but I find it interesting to follow them a little, it's kind of like a soap opera made up of baseball players. And yeah, I don't like Clemens but he's one of those guys that we'll be telling our grandchildren how great they were and we got to see him pitch. His personality faults aside, it is a good story, 44 years old, going to fall off a cliff someday performance wise, he could bomb on the biggest stage in professional sports. Interesting.

by pageian on May 7, 2007 9:32 AM CDT up reply actions

who

cares. him coming to the yanks still doesnt help that horrible bullpin they have. i still dont see them making the playoffs without getting some help in the pin

by tbizzle83 on May 7, 2007 12:53 AM CDT reply actions

I agree.

The Yankees' pitching staff -- not just the bullpen -- is so horrid that one guy, even someone as good as Clemens might be, isn't going to make that much difference.

The $28 million is likely being prorated for however much time he actually pitches, just as the $22 million he got from Houston last year was.

Just wait till the first time he pitches in a Yankee uniform at Fenway Park. That ought to be interesting. He has not faced the Red Sox since the 2003 ALCS, not even in interleague play.

And, he is going to be 45 in August. I remember when Steve Carlton, a Hall of Famer, proclaimed, when he was in his late 30's, that he wanted to pitch till he was 50. There were stories about his workout regimens, and it seemed as if he might be able to do that.

He had good years up till the time he turned 39, in 1984, and then his abilities just failed him. He bounced around to four teams (Giants, White Sox, Indians, Twins), and just couldn't pitch any more.

Not saying this is going to happen to Clemens -- but it could.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on May 7, 2007 4:09 AM CDT up reply actions

i don't know about that...

i don't think their rotation is in such bad shape. wang is a great pitcher. won like 19 last year. almost threw a perfect game two days ago. mussina and petitte are still solid. hughes looks like he'll be pretty good, if not great. which means clemens really only has to be a good #2 or decent #3 on that team. both of which seem well within reach.

and i just clemens is a different sort of pitcher than carlton, so the age comparison doesn't hold up. frankly, we don't really have anyone to compare clemens to. it's kind of uncharted territory. his legs still look huge, and that seems to be about 90% of his pitching, so there's not really any reason he can't go on for quite some time. barring strange injury, that is.

by billywan on May 7, 2007 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions

the best part last night was

when joe morgan was commenting on clemens choice versus the astros and said that the yankees were a team with post season aspiartions.. and they have a worse record than the yankees.

I also think its time to make spurious baseless claims about how clemens is always following his "good buddy" pettite from team to team. Too bad the yankees don't let you have a full "beard".

WINKS

One of Us!One Of Us!

by HerrProf on May 7, 2007 9:37 AM CDT reply actions

Roger Clemens

remained an elite pitcher last year. At the age of 43. No athlete prepares bettter than the Rocket does. I fully expect him to pitch exceptionally well for the Yankees. And those of you who would write of the Yankees in early May don't know a thing about George Steinbrenner and the Yankee way. It's not over for that team by a long shot. They have baseball's best offense. If they can get their starting rotation sorted out (Clemens, Mussina coming back, Philip Hughes coming back) then they will be just fine. And will give the Red Sox a major run for the money.

Evidently, Kerry Wood has entered the Witness Relocation Program. Picture of him is on my milk carton.

by BlueMike on May 7, 2007 11:02 AM CDT reply actions

I agree with Bill Simmons - ESPN's Sports Guy

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons

by JFCubFan on May 7, 2007 6:18 PM CDT reply actions

sports guy

needs to accept the fact that red sox fans are now just as bad as yankee fans, if not worse...

i'm usually a big fan of his, but now that his teams keep winning it's not really the same, is it?

by billywan on May 7, 2007 11:09 PM CDT up reply actions

But .. Will the Rocket really FLY ..?

Has he got the moxie? Anything going up can only go down. That's the question, as some as pointed out. What did he do for the Astros except give the club a multimillion dollar ride?

Boy has the guy got the baseball world feeding out of his hand, don't he?

Clemens has nothing to prove to anyone and I think he's just hanging around to get the last dregs out of what has been a long and celebrated tie on with MLB destiny. He can pretty much do what he wants, and anytime a first ballot guaranteed future HOF'er drops a word about what he'll do, the checkbooks will fly open. And why not? I don't begrudge the man with his gifts the chance to make a little extra pocket change to use at the Cooperstown gift shop.

While I despise the Yankees almost as much as the Cards and the White Sux, and I admire and respect Clemens as a true HOFer, I have to say that I can't wait until I get news that Coco, Papi and Schilling just chew up the Yankees in some crucial matchup the day the Rocket lands there. I hope they riddle Yawkey Way with homers off him. And time is not on his side. Still, it will be fun to watch ... but not too long, I'm too busy watching the Cubs WIN for a change.

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on May 8, 2007 7:36 AM CDT reply actions