After not being offered salary arbitration, Roger Clemens may have made his last pitch for the Astros
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Dec. 8, 2005, 10:02AM
DALLAS - Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his time and perhaps all time, is no longer a Houston Astro.
On the 17th anniversary of Nolan Ryan's signing with the Texas Rangers — one of the darkest days in Astros history — Clemens' two-year stint as a player in Houston apparently came to an end as well on Wednesday.
The Astros decided not to offer Clemens salary arbitration by Wednesday's 11 p.m. deadline. The move made Clemens — who is pondering retirement — a free agent, eligible to sign with any other team.
In addition, the Astros can't negotiate with Clemens until May 1, a month into the 2006 season. While Clemens could conceivably return to the Astros at that point, the 341-game winner will likely be playing elsewhere by then if he chooses not to retire.
That leaves open the possibility that Clemens, like Ryan before him, could finish his career with another team — possibly the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees.
The Astros' decision was based on the uncertainty of Clemens' status for next season and the potential of having to pay him between $15.4 million and $22 million if he does opt to play in 2006.
Through his representatives, Randy and Alan Hendricks, Clemens informed the Astros on Sunday that he wouldn't decide until late January or early February whether he'll play his 23rd major-league season or retire.
The Astros were not willing to wait.
"This is probably one of the more difficult, gut-wrenching decisions we've made in this organization," Astros general manager Tim Purpura said. "When you make a decision like this with somebody like Roger Clemens, you have to look at it on all levels in every perspective that you can.
"It's one of those things that you regret you have to do. But you also have to realize that when you're in our role trying to build a club, we need to move forward, and we don't know just what Roger's status will be."
Beltran's shadow remains
Last season's pursuit of free agent Carlos Beltran also had an impact on the Astros' decision. The Astros lost out on several possible free agents as they waited to re-sign Beltran, who eventually bolted to the Mets.
"We got so far behind on the Carlos Beltran negotiations last year," Astros owner Drayton McLane said. "And do you remember (All-Star) Moises Alou was interested in coming here, and several others were, too? By the time we got done with Carlos, we had an empty hand. We got behind, and Roger understands.
"This was one of the most difficult decisions that I've ever had," McLane added. "We didn't want late January to come, and we're holding out for Roger, and he's not ready to come back, and then we have an empty bag. So we have to go to work."
The Astros had hoped by now to have at least opened negotiations with Clemens to have an idea of how to proceed with next season's budget. The payroll for 2006 is already close to $80 million with just the five contracts guaranteed to Jeff Bagwell, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman and Craig Biggio and the expected raises through arbitration for third baseman Morgan Ensberg, closer Brad Lidge, shortstop Adam Everett, catcher Raul Chavez, reliever Dan Wheeler and infielder Mike Lamb.
Clemens had a record one-year contract of $18,000,022 in 2005. Had the Astros offered arbitration, Clemens would have remained on the roster and he would have had until Dec. 19 to accept arbitration.
If Clemens had taken the Astros to a hearing, he would have earned no less than $15.4 million next season but more likely in the $20 million range. By offering arbitration, the Astros would have at least extended the negotiating window with Clemens until Jan 8.
"They made an economic decision, but I respect it," said Randy Hendricks. "I might have done differently than that, but it's their decision, not mine."
Clemens was unavailable for comment, but Hendricks alerted him of the Astros' move via e-mail.
"Roger just told me that he was somewhat surprised but that he will live with it," Hendricks said. "Alan and I had told him about the possibility, but I believe, like most fans, he was still surprised at Drayton's decision."
Clemens, who won his record seventh Cy Young Award in 2004 in his first season with the Astros, led the majors in earned run average in 2005. He was a National League All-Star both seasons, even starting for the NL in the 2004 All-Star Game at Minute Maid Park.
Clemens was believed to have retired after a farewell tour in 2003 with the New York Yankees. After Pettitte signed with the Astros on Dec. 11, 2003, Clemens reconsidered.
With a steady lobbying effort from McLane and many Houston fans, Clemens signed with his hometown Astros on Jan. 12, 2004, for a $5 million, one-year contract and a $2 million, 10-year personal services contract.
Clemens' signing was a major reason the Astros drew 3 million fans in 2004 for only the second time in franchise history. Since his arrival, the Astros won a postseason series for the first time last year and went all the way to the franchise's first World Series this year.
'No hard feelings'
After compiling a 13-8 record and a 1.87 ERA in 2005, Clemens is now 341-172 with a 3.12 career ERA. He is the winningest pitcher alive and ranks ninth all-time on the career victories list. With 4,502 career strikeouts, he trails only Ryan (5,714).
"There's no hard feelings," Hendricks said. "It's just a strange situation."
On Dec. 7, 1988, Houston fans screamed as Ryan left via free agency after former Astros owner John McMullen tried to cut his salary 20 percent after Ryan's ninth season in Houston.
"There's no parallel between those two (Clemens and Ryan)," McLane said. "Nolan was still at the peak of his career. He wanted to pitch. Alan and Randy have said to Tim and I several times that Roger is 50-50 or more that he'll retire. Nolan was ready to negotiate, and Roger is not.
"Other than both of them being Texans, being two of the best pitchers ever and two great Texans, there's no parallel."
jesus.ortiz@chron.com
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com Section: Sports This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3510667.html
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