I think to be fair, it will be good to see him pitch again – even if Clemens is a Yankee [Ed.: pittuie!] – but there are a number of aspects to this move to sign the great elder statesman, an athlete who is…my age.
- 1. He is a Mercenary. Clemens is not a teammate in this situation. Between starts he is not on the bench, he isn’t even in New York. The deal is he stays at home in Texas when he feels like it.
- 2. Clemens’s return is not the Second Coming. The Yankees are as poor as they have ever been in my recollection. Beyond the injuries, some players just have not panned out as promised and the bullpen is simply weak. Clemens shuttling in every fix or six days will not change that.
- 3. We don’t need no Roger Clemens. Even though the Red Sox probably offered him about ten million less, where would Roger fit in? He is not as good now as the Sox #2 pitcher, Beckett who is 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA on May 7th. Realistically, what with the Dice-K deal, Clemens would be a #4. And even if the fifth starter Tavarez (who I have underestimated before) falters, Okajima could be the fifth starter for the Sox by the fall.
- 4. Greater Disruptions may be ahead. Forget last year’s soap opera between Jeter and A-Rod. The Yankees are the team of many fragile egos from the interventionist owner to the young pitchers being pushed too early. A number of missteps have placed them in this position. Clemens may serve as a negative, a disruption due to the attention, and soon if the team does not somehow become what it has not been to date so far in 2007.
Sure, I will be excited when he likely makes his debut against the Red Sox in early June and if he wins he wins. It’ll be fun. He may even single handedly add three to five wins that the Yankees would not otherwise have. But they are already five and a half back. Will Rivera regain his form as civilization’s greatest closer? And will he make Damon bat over .240 or Mientkiewicz hit .200? Doubt it. Maybe.