At 12:01 am on December 8, 2005, something very interesting happened.  A Major League Baseball free agent market that was shallower than Paris Hilton got some much needed oomph and all from a player who may not even play in 2006.  There are not many athletes who could affect such a turn-around, fewer still who could do it at the tender age of 43 but as we all know, Roger Clemens is not a typical athlete. 

In a winter when a pitcher with almost as many trips to the disabled list as career wins (paging AJ Burnett) can get 5 years and 55 million giving 20 million to Roger Clemens for a year could be seen as a bargain for some teams.  Certainly he is a more sound investment than the pitchers still available on the market (unless you have a fondness for Kevin Millwood and his propencity for pitching well in contract years or Jarrod Washburn and his 87 mph bp fastball and breakless curve).  Teams that don't even need starting pitching are getting into the act with the Yankees basically ready to throw airplanes full of cash at the Hall of Famer and the Red Sox taking up donations on Yawkey Way to tempt the Rocket to bring his red glare back to Fenway.  Never mind that at present both teams have seven starters for five spots (Johnson, Mussina, Pavano, Wang, Wright, Chacon and Small in NY and Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield, Arroyo, Wells, Wade Miller and Matt Clement in Boston).  After all, when someone tells you that you can have a classic '65 Mustang you don't say, "no thanks, I've got a Geo Metro in the garage already."

Mind you, this is pure speculation since the common wisdom is that the Rocket is going to pitch in the World Baseball Classic and then re-sign with the Astros in May if he decides to stick around for one more season.  But the hot stove is not about conventional wisdom, it is about dreaming up scenarios and for fans across baseball Roger Clemens in their team's colors is one heck of a dream.

For the Yankees, the signing of Clemens could help Pavano get his wish of a ticket out of the Bronx, possibly to Seattle for outfielder Jeremy Reed and an arm or two for the bullpen.  The Sox are already trying to deal David Wells and by adding Clemens they could also try to deal either Clement or Arroyo for a short stop to replace Edgar Renteria (would Wells, Arroyo and Andy Marte be enough to get the Padres to offer up Khalil Greene and Antonio Otsuka?). 

Other teams too are certainly salivating over the chance to add Clemens, the pitching poor Rangers for example, surely Tom Hicks who once invested 55 million in Chan Ho Park would consider 20 million and use of a private jet a bargain for Clemens, though the Rocket may be a little leary about doing his swan song in a ballpark known as the Launching Pad. 

The Cardinals can't afford him, but the idea of bringing him in to replace Matt Morris and usher in the first year at the new park in St. Louis (while also giving a swift kick to a division rival) is certainly something that the Cardinal execs are thinking about at night. 

The Mets have brought in just about everyone else who was available this winter, why not add Clemens to the staff, certainly a team that just signed Julio Franco, who is listed in the media guide as being "at least 47" to a two year deal cannot be concerned with the age of the Rocket, why at 43 he's a spring chicken next to Franco and with a new network and a new stadium on the horizon a rotation that boasts Pedro, Clemens and Glavine at the front end might just be enough to finally get them by the Braves. 

The list of teams that would love to have Clemens is long, but for now all we can be certain of is the only team we know the Rocket will be toeing the rubber for this year will be Team USA.  But there is nothing like some rocket fuel to make sure the hot stove keeps burning bright this holiday season.