Is Clemens Telling the Truth?
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by Niteowl049
Baseball Notebook: Is Clemens Telling the Truth?
With his latest denials of never using steroids Roger Clemens will lose any credibility he may have had if it turns out later he did use steroids. One thing for sure is that either Brian McNamee or Clemens is lying. Clemens fired McNamee as his trainer last May so McNamee could be getting back at Clemens but I have a feeling that what McNamee told to Mitchell investigators is true and that Clemens is grasping at straws to protect his image.
If Clemens is lying to protect himself then baseball fans will be wondering if anyone is telling the truth except those like Andy Pettitte and Brian Roberts who have admitted using steroids in some form.
One thing is almost positive and that is that Clemens will probably never step on a major league field to pitch again. But with Roger you never say never as he likes to make a lot of money pitching a half a season or less. I think after the 6-6 record of last season Clemens will hang up for good. He will never get a contract like the one last year for pitching a little more than half a season. I can't see the Yankees bringing him back again since they appear to have a solid starting pitching rotation for next season if they don't trade too many young starters to acquire Johan Santana. The Yankees hope they don't have to call up pitcher after pitcher from minors like they did last season till Phillip Hughes and Ian Kennedy pitched well for them.
For the sake of Clemens I hope he is telling the truth. If he is lying he is doomed to being remembered as the pitcher who used steroids and lied to the fans about it. Curt Schilling has called for Clemens to be stripped of any Cy Young awards won after 1997 if it is proved beyond a doubt that he did use steroids. I am not saying McNamee could be the one lying but can't see any reason he would implicate Clemens unless he is seeking retribution for Clemens firing him last May. The truth will come out sooner or later and we will know for sure who is lying and who isn't.
Carlos Silva Agrees With Mariners On Four Year Contract for $44 Million
Who is going to stop the insanity? Carlos Silva will receive $44 million over the next four years from the Mariners despite having a 24-29 record over the last two seasons. In those two seasons he has given up 93 more hits than innings pitched. However, in his defense he only gave up 68 walks total in 382 innings pitched over the last two seasons.
It looks like it no longer matters if a pitcher has a losing record. If a pitcher like Silva can demand this kind of money and get it then we will continue to see losing pitchers making the big bucks.
It used to be that even the best pitchers in baseball were paid paltry sums for spectacular seasons. It reminds me of the spring training holdout in 1966 of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale who were asking for a million dollar contract for three years with each of them getting $167,000 during the three years. They finally agreed to sign with Koufax receiving $125,000 and Drysdale receiving $110,000 so they made $235,000 combined in 1966 which was not close to the $1 million they requested for three years. Koufax had won 26 games and struck out 382 batters in the 1965 season.
In today's market Koufax would be in the $18-20 million a year range. It may not be fair to compare two different eras but it still is a shame that two Hall of Fame pitchers made $235,000 combined in 1966 while a pitcher with only 55 career wins will be making $11 million by himself in 2008.
