Roger Clemens signs with Yankees

Roger Clemens signed with the Yankees for a cool 28 million over the weekend. Not a complete surprise. 28 million is a lot of money to pass up. My main question is if he wanted to win so badly why the Yankees? What do they offer (other than the 28 million) the Sox or Astros do not? The pitching staff is in shambles, with Pettitte being the only really decent starter to this point. Mussina is still a question mark, Carl Pavano is bascially a paid DL player, Kei Igawa was sent to the minors and Philip Hughes has been decent not great. So other than Roger what do they have? Not much.

Lets also not over look the ragged bullpen which has been terrible of late. Even if Roger leaves the game with a lead he has the following pitchers to keep the lead for him. Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor and Sean Henn. Not the most confidence isnpiring bunch and they dont necessarily scare many hitters at this point. Not to mention Mariano Rivera has been shakey this year.

If Roger really wanted to win so badly wouldn’t he take this all into consideration? Sure he will have the run support but beyond that not much else. He will more than likely be the best pitcher on the staff and in the long run he will be the star of the team. I just don’t see him having a fantastic second half or getting this team to the playoffs.

The other two teams that were in the running were the Astros and the Red Sox. They both had something to offer, maybe just not the money the Yankees had. The Astros have a decent lineup that has started to take off as of late.  They were Rogers hometown team and he pitched there the last two years.  The NL Central is still pretty wide open and he would have had a legitimate shot at the playoffs and maybe an NLCS if he signed with them.

The Red Sox offered three things Roger was wanting.  A winning team, a chance to win and great offense.  They just didn’t pony up the money.  The other side of joining the Sox was the chance to come for one final time and close out his career (at least for this year) with the team he started with and took to the 86 World Series.   I beleive he had a better chance of reaching he playoffs with the Sox than the Yanks.  The AL Wild Card may not come from the East this year.  I really kind of doubt Roger bought into the whole “returning home” part of it after his bitter split with the team, new ownership not withstanding.

Sox news and notes 5/3

Hideki Okijima was named the AL Rookie of the Month for April.  Okajima allowed only five hits in 12 appearances during the month and finished with a 0.61 era, one save and 19 k’s.  Okijima throws a sneaky fastball, a curveball and a changeup that has surprised some of Boston’s coaches.  Along with the other Sox signing from across the Pacific, Dice – K,  the Sox staff is one of the best in the majors this year.

Some what of a coincedence that while in town the Sox had talks with the A’s over starter Rich Harden who is currently on the DL. The A’s reportedly asked about Wily Mo Pena and pitching prospect Clay Bucholz. The Sox have been hesitant to trade away pitching prospects and with the injury to Mike Piazza in last nights game the A’s certainly need a hitter to replace him. Letting Pena go for another starter may not be a bad move, the only concern being Hardens health.

Julian Tavarez says the Sox don’t need Roger Clemens. “I don’t think we need him.” “I don’t think we need him. We don’t need him,” insisted Tavarez. “We’ve got some young guys down there who can do it, too. We’ve got Kason Gabbard, Jon Lester, a guy who is 22 years old who can bring it. This guy is going to be a Sandy Koufax some day.” I didn’t realize Tavarez was now GM. Clemens, if in top form, would be a welcome addition to any staff at this point.

Speaking of Julian Tavarez several teams may make a run at him soon. Tavarez would have value to several teams, particularly National League clubs looking for a middle reliever or a starter. The Mets, Cardinals, Phillies, Rockies, Marlins, and Reds would all be candidates.

Jon Lester’s start last night in Pawtucket was cut short by a cramp in his forearm. Lester allowed three hits and two earned runs, while walking three and striking out four. H threw just 63 pitches, 39 for strikes, before being removed from the game. “Obviously, I’m frustrated,” said the 23-year-old, who successfully battled lymphoma over the offseason. “It’s one of those things that happened. It happened for a reason.” Lester said he felt his arm tighten after throwing a pitch in his final inning.“It was in the third inning,” said Lester, who indicated he had never experienced a similar problem. “I threw a pitch and it tightened up. It was a freak thing. I hope it’s not a setback. Like (manager Ron Johnson) said, it’s just a cramp. In five days hopefully, I’ll make another start and we’ll go from there.”