McLane fails to do the right thing for Rocket

Seriously, this was the one trade that I wanted to see made. To see the best pitcher of this generation to end his career where it began, on the mound at Fenway, preferably hoisting a WS trophy.

McLane made a substantial investment in this season and in Roger's contract, Roger knowingly choose to return to a team that had done nothing to really improve its offense since last season and shouldn't be suprised to see a repeat of the poor run support he has previously experienced in Houston.

Sure it would have made a good story, but Roger made his choice and now he gets to live with the decision.

Yep. Roger made his bed, and though it might be nice to have him down the stretch, it wouldn't be worth giving up one or more of the kids for some short-term success. Other teams might do it that way, but I don't want that for us.

Considering the way the Astros have finished the last couple of seasons, I wouldn't have made the move either. I understand that one of those years they got a huge boost from Beltran, but they aren't that far out of the race, and with that pitching staff they can certainly make a run at it. I think he owed it to his fans not to trade him and committing that much money to Roger. He basically assured his fan base that they were going to make the playoffs, and that Roger was going to be a big part of it.

Amen. And it wouldn't be cool enough to lose Lester and Hansen (speculating) and whoever else that would have had to have been thrown in to make it happen.

It would've have cost Lester and/or Hansen. It would've been a cermonial trade, similar to Maddux. Maybe Edgar Martinez and Murphy.

Regardless, we don't have Roger. And unless something absurd occurs, like they DFA Roger or outright release him, he won't be in a Sox uniform ever again.

But I do wonder if he would make it through waivers unclaimed.

Only if we're behind the Yankees.

Even if only percentage points behind...? If we lose and the MFY win on Tuesday, they move ahead of us by a few percentage points. Htn then puts Rocket on the waiver wire Wednesday morning, with the Sox and MFY claiming him Wednesday afternoon. Then the Sox win and MFY lose Wednesday night, does Rocket go to first-place Boston?

I know it's not going to happen that way. Just having some fun and trying to figure out the nuances of the rules.

What an absolutely ridiculous article by Jayson Stark about the Clemens to Red Sox possible trade that McLane "should have made happen because it was the right thing to do." ABsolutely ridiculous. Yeah, he owes it to Clemens, who virtually held up his team for months, who the Astros have bent over backward to please, and who generates $$$ for the Astros every time he pitches, to trade him. Stark is living in Bizarro world. Yeah, Maddux got traded, but he HAS PITCHED TERRIBLY on a team with no chance.

McClane owes Clemens nothing, given everything he's done to keep him. Oh yeah, and the whole not giving up on the season for your fans. And if Clemens wanted to be traded, well, boo hoo, A-hole, maybe you shouldn't have signed for a ridiculous amount of money with the Astros in the first place.

It's Drayton, not Dayton.

Mr. McLane likely saved us from losing some good prospects and spending a large amount of money on what might only have been a marginal upgrade (I'm not exactly convinced that Clemens would be particularly effective in the AL at this point), so I'm not particularly upset with him.

Considering that McLane screwed over the greatest player in team history, Jeff Bagwell, partially so he'd be able to fund Roger's return, I hardly think he's interested in "the right thing to do", especially since he'd end up with egg all over his face.

Its all about PR, well at least this guarentees a mess internally if the Astros fall further out of contention. Hendricks quote this morning was just the beginning...but something tells me Clemens will be in NY or Boston by seasons end.

Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. I'm tremendously disappointed that Theo did nothing yesterday. If he could somehow land Clemens, it'd make up for it. I agree, though, that Clemens has no one to blame but himself.

I think that is a awful article by Jason Stark. First off it's based on pure speculation wondering about the three possible scenarios of why the trade didn't happen, then it just turn redundant mentioning the "failed to do the right thing" phrase like 23 times.

Yeah f$%ck Drayton McLane for the fact that he wants to keep Clemens and not give up the season for a team that has made the playoffs the last two years on big second half runs. Yeah , it's true. They might not make it, but they are willing to give it a try and if you are an Astro's fan you should be happy.

Not everything revolves around the Red Sox and Yankees.... there are other teams, there is even another league (National league) out there.

I would of liked to see Clemens pick the Red Sox when he had the choice, but I agree witht he majority here, in this instance.

Not only did Roger make his bed, but the Astro's are trying hard to make the playoffs. They did make serious attempts to land Miggy and possibly Sori from all accounts.

You can't blame Drayton for doing what is best for his investment.

If/when Rocket is placed on waivers, he'll never make it to the AL. He would have to pass through all NL teams first (regardless of their record) and I'm sure the Mets, Dodgers and probably the Cards would grab him.

I think in your example, the record at the time the claim is made is what counts so he would go to Boston.

McLane is going to have to do a lot of damage control as word got out yesterday in one of Houston's papers that McLane demanded that Brad Lidge must be dealt. Even if it is not true, that has to hurt the damaged psyche of Brad Lidge even more.

I'm 99 percent sure they got rid of that league-first rule. It's just based on record.


No, it's based on the record at the time the waiver period on a player expires. I believe waiver claims are processed 48 hours later (used to be 72 hours). During those 48 hours, anyone can put in a claim on a player (and no one but the commissioner's office is supposed to know who put in a claim).

At the end of the 48 hours, that's when MLB looks at all the waiver claims and they alert whomever has the worst record at that time that their claim was successful. At that point, the Astros can choose to revoke the waivers.

That's my understanding of the process.

If they changed the league first rule, it must have been this offseason. Here's an article from last year (I couldn't find anything recent) detailing the process...



http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...sp&c_id=mlb

Could tonight's loss be a silver lining? According to the standings for the next 24 hours we are at a .600 winning percentage while the Spanks are at .602. We now have waiver priority should both teams claim Roger.

If Roger were put on waivers, I'd expect the Rangers to put in a claim before he'd reach the Red Sox.

He isn't getting put on waivers

Of course, this is all speculation, but the waiver scenario is interesting.

If Clemens were open to go to any team, I would agree that several NL teams would claim him if he was put on waivers. But if the Hendricks brothers make it known that he absolutely will not go to another team in the NL, the rest of the NL might pass on him because theoretically, it would at least get Clemens out of the NL.

Then it comes to the AL. Here's where things get dicey. Moreno has loads of cash in Anaheim. I can't see him passing. If the White Sox are behind us, I think Reinsdorf would put in a bid. And I don't see how Hicks and the Rangers would take a pass on him if he was out there.

So I don't see how it could ever get done.

If Roger wants to end his career in Boston, I think he'll have to come back for one more season next year.

Could we waive someone, say Gabe Kapler, and if Houston were to calim him, we could work out a deal for Kapler that included Roger Clemens?

Kind of one of those scenarios.

Probably not, huh?

He'd never make it past,oh, the Giants or Dodgers in his own league, let alone make it to the Sox or yankees. Not happening people, Period. Let it die....

He and about 1000 other players WILL get put on waivers. The one's who don't are the exceptions, not the ones who do.


They wouldn't want Kapler. Waiver deals are typically for prospects that are not on the 40 man roster and aren't subject to the MLB waiver process. So, Clemens for Kyle Jackson or something of that nature could be done, if Clemens fell to the Sox (which is unlikely).

One thing to keep in mind is that with Clemens' NTC, he can reject waivers. I don't think he would make it through anyway, so I guess it's moot.

The guy to look for on waviers is Javy Lopez who asked to be released today. If the Sox can work something out with Baltimore it might not be such a bad thing that Tek is out considering his offensive this year.

I am certain the Yanks would block this if they are ahead of the Sox in the wavier order....because of tonight the Sox are ahead.

There is no way, even if McLane did have a change of heart, that Clemens would make it to the Sox since there are 25 or 26 teams (depending on the tie breaker with the White Sox) that have waiver proirity over them and every one of those teams knows what the deal is. Hell, I'm sure the Marlins would claim Roger just to get back at Theo for his claim on Millar prior to the 03 season.

It was a nice dream but it's not going to happen, so it's not even worth speculating about anymore.

And now that Tek's injured, I see this as being very likely. And it will probably happen (if it happens at all) sometime before tomorrow's game, when we are technically 2nd place in the AL East.

Lopez, although horrible defensively at 1st, could also fill our need for a backup first-sacker in case of emergency when Tek gets back. In his defense, though, he just started learning it this season.

Could this slight dip in the standings lead to a deal made tomorrow? Would it make Theo expediate the process?

I know this Clemens stuff is like beating a dead horse but does anyone think that he is 100% set on retiring? What about if he does the same type of scenario next year?


Shoot, he could probably pitch another 2 or 3 years if he pitches July - Sept.

I wouldn't be averse at all to the Sox offering him the same type of deal next year...........

April, May, June

Schill
Beckett
Wake
Lester
Clement

July, August, Sept, Oct
Schill
Beckett
Clemens
Wake
Lester


I like.

But I think what Curll was asking is if all players in a trade have to clear waivers. That way we could send someone out that no one else would want, then start dealing w/ Houston when they claim him.

Interesting. Ah, Screw him anyway.