What baseball player is worth $18,000,000 for 4 months work? Michaelangelo wouldn't get 18 mil for a year today, even if he held out.
Intangible answer? The Yankees were at 9 1/2 back when Clemens made his first start. They are 6 back today. Was there some emotional shift in favor of the Yankees? Did the RedSox look up from their newspapers is a panic when Clemens signed on? Are the Yankee players winning one for the Clemmer?
No, no, and no.
Baseball is not a game of inspiration, unless the inspiration is a shared hatred. Irritable managers, bombastic owners, and detested opponents can cause a team to focus. The lift provided by a 44 year old pitcher is, at best, minimal.
Players, especially the jaded professionals on the Yankees roster, are not driven by emotion. The season is too long to rise and fall with every passing event or pull at the heart strings.
Picture ARod rallying the guys around and saying, "Hold on, boys, Roger Clemens is coming. Now there is hope!" It doesn't ring true. Johnny Damon tearing himself away from his mirror long enough to get excited about a change to 1/5th of the pitching rotation? Hard to imagine. Abreu begins hitting because of the Dayton Flyer? Sorry, I just don't buy it.
Then is Clemens making a difference when he takes the mound? Here is a stat for you. 5-8. That is the Yankee record with the Rocket on the mound. We don't have lift off.
To be fair, with a little luck along the way, the Bombers could have won 8 of those 13 game. But that is with every break going their way. Baseball fans know the game doesn't play out that way.
Ask the question another way. Could New York have won 8 of 13 with some other pitcher on the mound? Maybe not. But they could have won 7. And is one additional win worth the cost?
4-5 4.00 72 IP 71 H 49K 19 BB.
A 1.25 WHP in the hitter happy American League. It puts you in the top tier of the league's starting pitchers. But not the Top 5. Maybe not even the Top 10.
Along the way there have been some forgettable starts. A no strikeout 4-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Let that sink in. The Baltimore Orioles. An inning and two thirds, nine run, debacle against the WhiteSox.
Three starts have been very good. Six innings of two hit ball against Toronto in Clemens last start. Back to back 8 inning, 1 run outings against Minnesota and Anaheim. But no big strikeout games. Alot of solid major league pitcher efforts, but no magic. No Roger Clemens games.
Baseball is about history and it's all been done before. Clemens in 2007 is Walter Johnson in 1925. The "Big Train" was still very good. 20-7 3.07. But in the World Series against the Pirates the fastball wasn't there, just the guile that came with 19 seasons.
It was cold, wet, and dreary at Forbes Field when Johnson went to the mound in Game 7 on October 15. And the newspaper accounts of the 9-7 Pittsburgh win grow even gloomier when they describe the valiant old war horse laboring against time and young bats. And losing.
Maybe none of this is the point. Maybe George Steinbrenner wanted Clemens to keep the Yankees at the top of the newspaper fold with the Mets. Maybe it was a knee jerk reaction to the RedSox signing Matsuzaki. Maybe it was just something to do when nothing else seemed to be working.
So Clemens wasn't worth it? Ninety-nine percent of you says no. But there is one percent that says wait. Wait until October. Wait until all the votes are in, the standings finalized, the playoffs set. Wait until the World Series. Wait until the last out.
The Yankees win the Series, Clemens wins two games, and it was all worth it. Anything less and the cost was too high. It's a desperate gamble, but it's Clemens and the Yankees to win. A fool's errand or a hero's grand finale.
Husker-If you don't think it's the best $7.50 you ever spent on a book I'll reimburse you. It's one of the best five books I ever read about anything. You'll love the Sam Crawford chapter.
Bafongu's read it. The pages of the Babe Ruth section are all stuck together on his copy.
I agree, Dud. Jury's still out on Rocket. Making the post-season and his performance thereafter will determine whether Big George's decision was right or wrong.
I will disagree with you on one point though. I think Clemens may more of a positive effect on the Yankee clubhouse than you give him credit for. They're all high-paid players so there's probably none of the 'he doesn't travel with the team' whining.
Plus, when he went after the Blue Jays and got tossed from the game the other day, it showed his clubhouse he came to compete. As if there was any doubt.
Dudski, you make a good point. Still, even if Clemens has a solid postseason, 18 million dollars for four months work could have been better spent eleswhere.
At the time of the signing i was adamnant that regardless of the hype, Clemens can in no way be worth the money the Yanks are paying him.
Said it was a joke in July. Posted many a comment on it. Everybody thought I was an ####. Now what. A 43 year old dude with 92 MPH fast ball (at best) and a non-nasty curve, and a splitter that doesn't split. And you tell me that I was wrong in my July prediction? Come on. The fact that nobody has come after me is already a joke, let a lone Mr "Roid" Clemens. Is it alright if I call him that?
Tazmanian, the fact that the Yankees have turned things around since Clemens arived is merely a coincidence. Clemens can only make a difference in 1 of every five games and in the few games he has pitched in, the Yankees are, like Dudski said, 5-8.
The Clemens signing was rediculous. The Yankees could have spent significantly less money for any number of pitchers and would have had them over a full season.
Outstanding as usual. I would say this about Steinbrenner. Amidst all the bumbling of virtually 3/4th teams in MLB who refuse to spend, whose owners are skinflints even by their market level accountability, George gives Yankee fans what they demand. The Bronx Zoo and he's expected to win and he has the money so he does whatever rabbit he can find in the hat. That's why Barry Bonds will be there next year. Roger didn't do too well the last series or two as I recall? I could be wrong but I seem to remember one at least he just hobbled out and had nothing while injured.
No I don't think he comes through but if Steinbrenner doesn't do something to "change" then he's eaten alive as he should be. I like it. It the Yankees. It's always been the Yankees. You can beat them, they may not win for a decade but there will always be good enough Yankee team there to keep the fan zoo going. And the haters. Cha Ching LOL
Outlaw-It could have been worse. Steinbrenner could have signed Zito. But it could have been better. He could have paid for Matzusaki. Give him this, as you say, he isn't afraid to pull the trigger.
Rev-I agree that Clemens still has the fire within. However, if you're looking for a player to spark a team it normally would be a position player. Somehow on the Yankees they don't seem to have that guy, although I think Jeter does try to fill the role.
Taz-If Clemens did play a role in lighting a fire for the team, I think it was just that his arrival was something to hang onto when they were at their lowest. It may have created an expectation of winning. But I'm not sure we're seeing anything we wouldn't have seen once the pitching staff got over that horrible run of injuries to start the season.
Nostradamus-You make a good point. The stuff isn't there. The brains and the will is, and sometimes you get glimpses of the raw ability, but at 44 I just think it's a flickering light. Some nights Clemens will be very good, but some nights it just isn't there. The Walter Johnson 1925 nights.
Kelly-Even with the TV revenue, merchandise sales, and anything else you can think of, where does the money come from? If I remember correctly, the Yankees are actually still making money. Seems hard to believe with contracts like Clemens'.
They should have signed Julio Franco for $18 million. Just because of his age and his physique alone are jaw dropping! Anybody at the young tender age of 47, who can swing it like that is worth $18 million in my book!
Clemens? The older I get, the more it appears he and David Wells have alot in common. I don't know why I say that, it is just nowadays when I picture Clemens I think of Wells. No he was not worth $18 million. They should have gone after Chris Young or somebody like that instead.
Dudski-The fact of the matter is this. The Yankees pitching staff was borderline garbage..check that they were garbage at the beginning of the season. They needed some spark and though you might think they are a bunch of superstars who don't get excited about winning you are wrong. Hell Derek Jeter was almost doing cartwheels win Wilson Betemit hit his first HR as a Yankee. If the Yankees didn't care they wouldn't have cleared the benches when A-Rod was hit. And who payed the Blue Jays back. Roger put it between the 1 and the 5 of Alex Rios. There is a lot to be said about leadership in the dugout.
Last edited by SofaKingSpecial on August 14th at 10:47 AM.
They're actually four back... and were four back yesterday.
Is anyone worth that kinda coin though? Nah... but Roger is definitely a presence, no matter what his stats are, and in the long run... to some degree, is a worthwhile add for the Yanks.
Dusdki
Clemens was no doubt brought in to assure success. And if they make it to the playoffs then as far as Steinbrenner is concerned. It will have been worth it ,especially if they make it to the World Series. Which in effect is their ultimate goal and to win it. Anything less than that will have deemed to have been a failure. Money hasn't been the object from the start as their's is a concern that has and always will make money. There's no other sport's franchise in North America that can generate as much money as the Yankees.
And that's certainly why they know no boundaries when it comes to spending money on players, be they good, bad or indifferent.
SofaKing-After reading your comments I admit I probably overstated the lack of emotion. They do have pride. I think they would have without Clemens, though.
Dudski- I didn't mean to get hostile but that is what aggravates me about Yankee haters is when they say they don't care. I'm down here in Houston where Clemens left. Are you telling me that the Astros are as good now as they were when he was here? They virtually have the same team. You're are right that no one is worth that kind of money, but he knew the Yankees have deep pockets and his boy Pettitte was back in the Bronx so he went there. I'm glad he is on the Yankees because I do think he provides a lot of emotion that you can hardly put a price tag on.
Dudski
At least it's not coming from the Patrick Ewing line of thinking. We spend a lot of money so we need to make a lot of money. But in Patrick's case his spending was on the strippers at the Gold Club Lounge. Where I hear the entertainment is quite decent. I wonder if Pacman Jones was ever a patron there ? Perhaps not as none of the strippers there has ever reported being assaulted by a sexually depraved player from the NFL.
SofaKing-No problem. As for the Astros, I think they were beyond help this year. The bottom part of the order is so weak that it wastes the production of the 3-4 hitters, Berkman and Lee.
