We have been told by our top-secret baseball sources that Roger Clemens will be returning to the Houston Astros this year. The date has not been set and the announcement has not yet been made official, but you can take it to the bank. If we're wrong, drinks on us.
Clemens will bring much needed support to a young starting rotation and hopefully buoy the spirits of best firend Andy Pettitte, who is off to a rough start. The Astros are playing .500 ball and suffering from a lack of offense, in addition to the inept bullpen. But after an historic finish last year, we're not counting out our boys just yet.
We are guesstimating a June 27th start against Detroit on the road to warm Clemens up for his home opener: The Fourth of July against the Cubs. Clemens will probably make close to $3.5 million a month to pitch for his hometown team. That should work out to about $7,000 a pitch. Yikes.
Eat it, Yankees.
*Image (c) dizfunkshinal on Flickr*

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The Astros GM has denied this report saying Clemens is still deciding on what he should do.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2463566
"The date has not been set and the announcement has not yet been made official, but you can take it to the bank. If we're wrong, drinks on us. "
Hold it just one red hot minute here, Odam. Those of us who know almost nothing about baseball & get all sports news from Austinist are confused.
First, hasn't the season already started??
Second, and more importantly, don't you *hate* Clemens...?? http://www.austinist.com/archives/2005/12/06/hey_rocket_dont_let_the_door_hit_you_in_your_fat_ass.php
he is too old and tired to pitch an entire season, see last mobnth of last season and playoffs.
i do not like him personally. then again, i don't like going to Dr. Jelly Finger. necessary evil, i say.
It's official.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2464315
Get ready for an emotional, late-inning, top-of-the-moung hug in September when the Astros relieve Clemens the older for Clemens the younger.
i imagine you are being glib, which is fine, but if not, just to clarify his son plays third base in single A ball, so they will probably get a game in this year in A ball, and his son will toss it ho him after they go around-the-horn, but that is probably the extent of it. now, if he keeps coming back for the next 3 years for a half season, who knows...
and, everyone keep in mind, the astros are only 3.5 out of the wild card with a ton of time left and some teams ahead of them destined to slow down in the summer.
Roger will be missed in Boston. I am still confused. Didn't he want to go to a contender? Its a stretch to think an NL team would win the Series this year, let alone the 'Stros.
re: boston, many people still hate him for leaving and eventualy going to yankees. of course, it was duquette's fault for thinking clemens was washed up, but that doubt and tarnishing of his image publicly is what got clemens back on track. regardless, many in beantown still do not like him, so while he would be warmly reeived in boston, if he was to have a few rough outings, the boo birds would come out and clemens does not need/want that. he has a free pass for life in houston. if the astros' bats can wake up, as well as the bullpen, they will be a contender with clemens. he lives 10 miles form the stadium and his best friend, who has been struggling, is on the team and he is beloved in houston. it would have been a ballsy move for clemens to go to boston, but given the possible distractions, as mentioned above, it really came down to houston or retiring. the hendricks' brothers used the other teams as financial leveraging, and that is fine. but i think it was houston or nothing for him. the safest route. if it was "all about a ring or being close to family," as he also said when leaving boston, he never would have gone to toronto. lesson here, don't trust what comes out of ballplayers' mouths.
re: boston, many people still hate him for leaving and eventualy going to yankees. of course, it was duquette's fault for thinking clemens was washed up, but that doubt and tarnishing of his image publicly is what got clemens back on track. regardless, many in beantown still do not like him, so while he would be warmly reeived in boston, if he was to have a few rough outings, the boo birds would come out and clemens does not need/want that. he has a free pass for life in houston. if the astros' bats can wake up, as well as the bullpen, they will be a contender with clemens. he lives 10 miles form the stadium and his best friend, who has been struggling, is on the team and he is beloved in houston. it would have been a ballsy move for clemens to go to boston, but given the possible distractions, as mentioned above, it really came down to houston or retiring. the hendricks' brothers used the other teams as financial leveraging, and that is fine. but i think it was houston or nothing for him. the safest route. if it was "all about a ring or being close to family," as he also said when leaving boston, he never would have gone to toronto. lesson here, don't trust what comes out of ballplayers' mouths.
What's a Clemens?