Roger Clemens Resigns with Yankees

In a move that reeks of desperation, the New York Yankees have made 44 year Roger Clemens the highest or second highest paid player in baseball depending on how you do the math. Don't get me wrong, Clemens is arguably the best pitcher of his generation and one of the top three pitchers of all time. However, he will turn 45 years old this season and the human body does breakdown over time. Due to ineffectiveness and a rash of injuries, the Yankees have used 10 different starting pitchers this season so their desire and need for some stability in the rotation is understandable. Paying 28 million dollars (prorated based on portion of season played) for a 44 year old pitcher only capable of giving you 5 innings is NOT understandable. Ten years ago, with Toronto, a 34 year old Clemens pitched nearly 8 innings a start in winning his 4th Cy Young award. However, the Yankees did not sign the 34 year old version. Last year, Clemens pitched 19 games and averaged 5.9 innings per start. The reason the Yankees felt they needed to make this move is a concern that their bullpen pitching would be worn out from over usage like last season. Well, if the pitcher you're bringing in to be your savior isn't going to give you 6 innings then he isn't solving that problem and isn't worth twenty some million dollars. Between my dislike of the Yankees and my desire for fiscal sanity in baseball, I hope this move blows up in their face. No, I'm not rooting for an injury. Just expecting that returning to the American League with the designated hitter coupled with the very average defense behind him we will see his ERA get a lot closer to 4.00 than last year's 2.30.

Separately, if fans of other teams want someone to blame for Clemens signing with New York they should look at the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks who provided the Yankees some financial relief by taking on Gary Sheffield's and Randy Johnson's big contracts in trades. If those two players and their contracts were still on the books then the Yankees would not have had the payroll flexibility to make this move.