Drayton McLane, the chairman and chief executive of the Astros, spoke with Roger Clemens recently and said that Clemens has not ruled out a possible return to playing baseball.
"We have a personal services contract with him and it’s not activated until he tells us he’s ready to retire," said McLane, just after this week’s quarterly owners’ meetings drew to a conclusion. "Well, he hasn’t said that. I think if he was ready to retire, and that was clear, he would have already said that to us. But that has not happened."
McLane noted that the Astros would not rule out the possibility of resigning Clemens to pitch for the Astros, but emphasized that both the team and Clemens want to see all of his legal issues resolved before making a decision.
If the Astros are still within two games of the NL Central lead in July and Chris Sampson is still pitching to a 6.27 ERA, the name ’Roger Clemens’ might be an easier sell to the fanbase.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
