 Rog-er Clem-ens ... Rog-er Clem-ens ...
 50,000+ fans were on hand to welcome Roger Clemens back to the Bronx today. The Hall-of-Famer will probably join the Yanks rotation in late May or the first week of June. When Phil Hughes returns from his strained hamstring, the Yankee rotation will be Wang, Pettitte, Clemens, Mussina, Hughes. Sorry, Sox fans, but that blows your rotation out of the water. It isn’t even close. The Yanks paid through the nose to bring Clemens back, $28M for about 1/3 of the year, but in the long term they didn’t give up anything. No prospects will be shipped away to add a front of the rotation stud. You can’t argue with that, you just can’t. Any nay-saying is nothing more than bitterness and jealousy, and it’s probably flowing south from Boston. I heard the news as I was driving to a hike in NJ from the lovely mouth of Suzyn Waldman. It took a second to make sense out of Waldman’s hysterics, and the crowd chanting the background, but then I was on the phone with my brother in seconds celebrating. This is huge news for the Yankees, and also huge news for the greedy owners who insist on keeping their payrolls below the $40M level. The Yankee welfare checks to the “small market” teams will balloon next year. Hey, it’s only money, and this team is now a legit world series contender.
Yes, I’m giddy. Update: For a perfect example of the bitter Sox fan reaction, check out this post. Ah, fuming Boston-ites lashing out at the Yankees, using nothing but nonsense as their ammunition. Feels just like 2003 again. 
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One other small point. If the Sox starting pitchers try to play beanball with the Yanks the next time the teams meet later this month, they’re going to be in for a rude awakening. Clemens is not afraid to hit guys, in fact, I think he actually enjoys it. If you don’t believe me, ask Mike Piazza. Piazza absolutely owned Clemens before the at bat pictured at the right. That shifted the psychological balance, and really, Piazza was never the same. I’m not condoning hitting someone in the head, just saying that in this case, it was extremely effective. The point being, don’t get too comfortable up there Manny and Ortiz, because there’s someone in pinstripes who will have no problem making you move your feet.
This signing is exactly why I have developed such an admiration for the Yankees... they see a weakness and then they do whatever it takes to fix it. I just can't hate these guys anymore, as they have an owner that just wants to WIN and doesn't run the team like a freakin' corporation with only concern for the bottom line.
GO YANKEES, GO ROGER! (Jaime Moyer, you are no longer the oldest pitcher in baseball....)
Just goes to show how wrong some guys are in their speculation...
Jason Stark said just last Thursday or Friday on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the morning that Clemens was at least a month away from making a decision on where he'd go. And to top it off, he thought he was leaning toward Boston, as that is where he'd be most likely to be pitching in October!
HAH! What does Stark know?
ESPN is all over the place on this one. Last night during the Phils/Giants game Peter Gammons (probably the biggest Sox apologist in the world) was saying the move was huge for the Yanks, and Joe Morgan was saying it was a stupid move.
It's funny how everyone, and I do mean everyone (check the post I put up today) has something to say about this, and pretty much everyone but Yankee fans are looking for ways to spin it in a bad way.
For me, 4 or 5 months of Clemens mentoring Phil Hughes is worth a prorated $28 mil, regardless of what Clemens does on the mound.
Brian, you're right on two counts...
1. there's a bunch of sour grapes out there among the rest of the world, and
2. if Clemens doesn't earn another strikeout, he still earns his money in the mentoring of Hughes.
As a former pitcher, I love watching this guy. He's the greatest pitcher of the modern era, arguably the greatest ever. I'm glad to see him back in the game.