Thoughts: Roger Clemens to NY

The signing of Roger Clemens definitely improves the Yankees staff, but they still have alot of question marks including Clemens himself. Clemens' numbers looked very nice in the National League over the past few years. However, I'm willing to bet that he won't have the same luck in the American League.

Clemens is now 45 years old and Yankees "fans" are acting like he's going to be a savior. I just don't see it. In 2002 with New York, he finished with an ERA of 4.35, in 2003 he finished with a 3.93 ERA. Solid, but not great, not the savior he's being made out to be. Not only is he not going to get to face a pitcher 3 times per game, he's going to have to face much stronger offenses in the American League. Roger Clemens is now technically the game's highest paid player (yes, his salary even trumps that of teammate Alex Rodriguez).

On the outside, this appears to be a panic move by the Yankees. It was reported that the Red Sox offered him a pro-rated salary of $18 million (the Yankees offered $28 million). At this point it seems pretty clear that Roger is all about the money and nothing else. He has nothing to gain in New York. Coming to Boston would have given him the best chance at another ring. Clemens could have passed Cy Young as the winningest pitcher in Red Sox history and ended his illustrious career where it all started. He could have gone into the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox and had his #21 retired by them, but apparently the money meant more than all of that (even though he'll probably never spend a cent of it).

My Prediction: Yankees win the AL East (I felt this way even before the Clemens signing despite the fact that I believe the Red Sox have a better ballclub). Clemens puts up an ERA between 3.90 and 4.10. I still feel like the Red Sox have a stronger club and will fare better in the playoffs barring injury to a key player or a big trade made by the Yankees.