NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Clemens is coming back for one more year -- and is getting the highest salary for a pitcher in baseball history.

The Rocket and the Houston Astros agreed Friday to an $18 million, one-year contract, and the seven-time Cy Young Award winner made the commitment to play for his 22nd major league season.

Houston called a news conference but did not reveal the subject. A baseball source familiar with the arrangements said it was to announce an agreement with Clemens that would give him a record salary for a pitcher, topping the $17.5 million Pedro Martinez earned with Boston last year in the option year of his contract.

Clemens first retired after pitching for the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series. But he changed his mind and agreed on Jan. 12 last year to join his hometown Astros, accepting a $5 million, one-year deal that was way below his market price.

The 42-year-old right-hander helped lead the Astros within one win of their first World Series appearance, earning $1,825,000 in bonuses based largely on Houston's home attendance, then said again that he was ``99 percent'' retired.

But momentum built after he returned earlier this month for a Hawaiian vacation, and he asked for $22 million salary -- matching his uniform number -- when proposed figures for salary arbitration were filed Tuesday. Houston offered $13.5 million, leaving the midpoint at $17.75 million.

His agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, then negotiated the deal with the Astros on Wednesday and Thursday.

Clemens is agreeing to a contract that makes him the highest-paid pitcher for the fifth time, following deals with Boston in 1989 ($2.5 million average), with the Red Sox in 1991 ($5.38 million), with Toronto in December 1996 ($8.25 million) and the Yankees in August 2000 ($15.45 million). The two contracts with Boston and the one with New York made him the sport's highest-paid player overall.

Clemens also is getting the highest, one-year contract in baseball history, topping Greg Maddux's $14.75 million deal with Atlanta in 2003.

His decision to stay is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable offseason for the Astros. All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent left to sign with Los Angeles, All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran departed to sign with the New York Mets, center fielder Lance Berkman tore up a knee playing flag football at a church function and promising but injured pitcher Wade Miller was let go.

Clemens, a 10-time All-Star, is 10th on the career wins list with 328, one behind Steve Carlton. Clemens' 4,317 strikeouts are second to Nolan Ryan's 5,714.

His decision to sign with Houston last year was spurred by former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte, who left New York to sign with the Astros. Clemens went 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 218 strikeouts, winning his first Cy Young in the NL, but Pettitte hurt an elbow tendon while batting in his first start, was largely ineffective and had season-ending surgery in August.

At $18 million, Clemens tied Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds for the fourth-highest average salary in the major leagues, trailing only Alex Rodriguez ($25.2 million), Manny Ramirez ($20 million) and Derek Jeter ($18.9 million).

This is a story that I have been following very closely over the last while, being that Clemens is the greatest pitcher in the history of the game!

So happy to see him back, I for one am booking two trips this week. One to New York to hopefully see him play against Pedro the Chump and Piazza the gay, and one in Houston for the rematch!

Glad to have you play another year Roger, and for the money that your worth!

Is this better suited for the MLB thread? Or is Clemens that special that he deserves his own thread. :p

LOL he's that special. :)

LOL he's that special. :)

Oh, um, errrr.... Ooooookay. :sleep: :D

LOL he's that special. :)

I agree, he is that special.

Why is it RedSox fans hate all ex players that have moved on?

I agree, he is that special.

Why is it RedSox fans hate all ex players that have moved on?

Wow, that special eh.

Have i bashed every player that has moved on?

OLO, you shouldn't make blanket statements and then disappear. Roger Clemens disrespected the fans of Boston as well as the city more than once. He is the only player to leave the Red Sox that i personally ever had an issue with, and anyone that knew me would know this.

Anyway, i was just curious as to why this wasn't in the hot stove thread. No big deal. In the past mods have been quick to act. Next time you get heat for closing a thread or moving a post, don't act confused as to why. Not a knock against the mods, just defending my position which was questioned. I gotta go shovel snow. Have a great day. ;)

Huh??? Gee dude sorry I didnt sit online and wait for you or another Red Sox Fan to reply so I could hurry up and exchange barbs with you. Next time I will sit at my PC untill we are done. I wont sleep untill the city of Boston tells me we are done.

I am not a mod in this forum. This is a new forum and we are trying to figure out the direction we want to take things. I guess one of the greatest pitchers in basbeall history deciding to play another season isnt big enough news for you. The JETS Offensive Co quits his job and gets a thread - I didnt see you chime in there!!!

How long has it been since Clemens left Boston7 years? Let it go move on, you won the WS.

You know what I really am not going to get into this, I do not care to spend time writting paragraphs of crap back and fourth about how RedSox fans hate Clemens because I dont care.

Balanced Rock you feel there should be changes made in this forum add them to the feedback section or send Brett a PM with your complaints, we are always looking to improve. Persoanlly I think Sucka and brew have been doing fine, especially considering they are both new and in a brand new forum.
If you have more problems with me send them via PM so we dont clog up a perfectly good baseball thread.

If you have more problems with me send them via PM so we dont clog up a perfectly good baseball thread.

Duly noted.

Fuck that! Why should this be in the MLB thread? What's the purpose of having a sports forum then?

You don't log on for a few days and then you have to read 187 new posts in the MLB thread?

There are currently only 162 posts in the MLB thread - since it started.

Also, at the time you made this thread, I believe the Roger Clemens signing was the last item discussed in that thread. It wouldn't have hurt to check there first.

Sucka and Brew will run this forum the way they see fit. My opinion is that this would've been better served in that thread, and the Hackett thread would've been better off in the NFL thread. In my opinion.

I'm going to jump right in and play devil's advocate here....an awful lot is made in the various forums about posting in the right places. It seems that if someone posts something in the wrong place, they are, at the very least, corrected and re-directed. Most of us know how things work throughout VHLinks, why should we think this forum would be different, and why would we expect this forum to go in a different direction?

It goes without saying that a lowly poster who speaks up and questions things isn't winning any popularity contests, no one likes a junior moderator.

But it should also be noted that no one enjoys being bitched out by a moderator for trying to keep things in perspective, shall we say. I'm not labeling anyone, I'm just saying, everybody needs to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt sometimes.

We posters want to play by the rules, for the most part. The mods should remember that they are always setting an example, like it or not.

And if a poster is out of line by asking if something is in the right place, there has to be a way of answering with a little politeness. "Because we can, don't like it, tough" is only going to cause further problems.

That's my version, party on.

There are currently only 162 posts in the MLB thread - since it started.

Also, at the time you made this thread, I believe the Roger Clemens signing was the last item discussed in that thread. It wouldn't have hurt to check there first.

Sucka and Brew will run this forum the way they see fit. My opinion is that this would've been better served in that thread, and the Hackett thread would've been better off in the NFL thread. In my opinion.

You know what I meant by 187. It differs from day to day. When the season starts it'll pick up and it's ridiculous to have to wade thru the shit all the time. If you're going to do that shit scrap the whole sports forum idea it's a waste then.

Just put it it non like the old days.

I don't give a shit anyway.

Sucka is doing a fine job I might add. But, fuck the Flyers anyway.

Gotta go shovel snow now but it's alot better than worrying about earthquakes, mudslides, and hurricanes.

I wasnt aware I bitched anyone out.

It's good to know that other's understand where i was coming from, and that i was in no way inferring that the mods weren't doing their job. I think Sucka would the first to tell you that i was just kidding around with him. I was only questioning why it wasn't in the MLB thread because in the past Mods were quick to clean things up so as to keep the board navigatable. And for the record, i also think he and BREW are stellar. If things have changed and you're working on a new forum in a different way, just say that. And while it pained me to not respond to the caning OLO gave me ;), i took one for the board, copy and pasted, and sent it in a PM instead.

Hell yeah i can't stand Roger Clemens, but that was in no way the reason for me asking why it wasn't in the MLB thread. The reason i didn't say anything about the Jets OC thread is simply that i rarely if ever post in the NFL thread(dunno why as i'm a big Bills fan :o ) and it didn't even dawn on me until OLO brought it up.

Anyhoo, back to the thread at hand. Clemens is an overpaid, back stabbin', money grabbin', soon to be 43 year old pitcher. I can say that, can't i? :thumb:

I wasnt aware I bitched anyone out.

If there's one thing bad about message boards, it's that there are many times where the humans factor of a conversation/debate (actually hearing what was said, and seeing the person say it) is taken out, and there are times when type comes across the wrong way. Atleast that's what i have learned. It's all good OLO...

You know what I meant by 187. It differs from day to day. When the season starts it'll pick up and it's ridiculous to have to wade thru the shit all the time. If you're going to do that shit scrap the whole sports forum idea it's a waste then.


But how much different is it to wade through, say, 50 new posts on a thread dedicated to a particular sport than it is to wade through 10 new threads interspersed amongst 100 new threads at 10 new threads a pop on all of the other sports? I think it's a lot easier if I want to read about Major League Baseball to find it all in one place, then to have to read past multiple threads on football, hockey, basketball, various college athletics, boxing, horse racing, golf, every kind of motorsports, wrestling, soccer, tennis and whatever sports people can follow to find all the threads that pertain to baseball. Remember, this forum is new and the potential hasn't even been tapped yet. But when there is a thread to every single sport that interests people under the sun, you may be happy to find your information on a particular sport in one thread (or maybe still not).

But again - that's just my opinion.

I wasnt aware I bitched anyone out.

No, you didn't. ;)

I have read, and I know and relate to everyone's posts/opinions. Yes, I am a new mod...but I ( "a junior moderator" RED!)do not think I am not liked quite yet. :D Balanced Rock said it best when he said, in a nutshell, that you can't really "read" what someone posts because you are not right there in front of them talking to them to hear the tone of the post! It's all in your frame of mind at THAT time.
Anyway, I will not merge this thread to the MLB because Clemens is a special player and this thread seems to carry itself like it should for the most part. Meaning, that the number of replies and views demands its own subject.
As far as Sucka and I not being "quick to act"..we are adjusting to the new site with better features. I do not know the old site features as a mod, so we all have some sort of adjustment. I will be as fair as I can be. There is a new action that can be done instead of closing and deleting threads, and I will use it to combine like topics into the main topic if Sucka and I deem it.
I am not on a "power trip" nor will I close a sports topic that is HOT! I will do what I see fit though, as far as combining, and I hope you understand, if you do not, please P.M. me. I am all for positive feedback etc...
Also, smilies just might do wonders while reading a post, so please enable them :D .
Back on the topic, I think Roger is a very good pitcher, but not worth more than what he got last year. He is a future Hall of Famer and everyone knows it, including him! The Astros better hope, letting Beltran (the best fantasy baseball player of now) go, Kent GONE and a few other good ball players go, they are relying on Clemens (age discrimination intact :p ) carry the Astros to who knows where!
Can anyone, has anyone said "rebuilding in the wrong way?" Clemens is the FOG of 2005!

Thread has been totally hijacked. What a shame.

Brew Crew, my "junior moderator" comment was referring to non-mods who speak up and try to run the show, not you at all.

I am absolutely not trying to start shit with anyone....are my posts that confusing to people?

Look, we all know this is a new forum. No one's being graded, so whether or not Brew and Sucka are "good" mods isn't really an issue.

But twice in the past week, posters have asked about threads being in the wrong place, and the response has been perhaps less than friendly. At least it has seemed that way to the casual reader.

All I'm trying to say is, let us know the deal. Like I said, throughout the Links, much is made about putting things in the right place. "Moving this", "This should be in ______ thread". I think people are thinking this applies here.

I just wanted to give that point of view. Like I said, no one likes it when a non-mod speaks up and tries to point out any shortcomings or wrong moves. It has a way of leading to sarcasm and ill-will among the masses.

Again, I don't have a beef with anyone. If I piss anyone off in pointing this out, then that's unfortunate. I want to see this thing fly just like everyone else.

It's all good, it really is. And if this thread's been hijacked, well, Clemens is overpaid, the Astros suck, Braves win, Braves win, Braves win.... :D

and the Hackett thread would've been better off in the NFL thread. In my opinion.

It was put there. With no notification. LOL!

There's absouletly (sp?) no reason to have a fucking sports forum here.

Now, you have to wade thru all kinds of talk to find that particular subject. It's lost and forgotten now. :sssh:

If Paul Hackett got a hand job from Paris Hilton should that have it's own thread? Or, does that go in the NFL thread LOL? Or, is that a Non-Music thread?

It was put there. With no notification. LOL!
If Paul Hackett got a hand job from Paris Hilton should that have it's own thread? Or, does that go in the NFL thread LOL? Or, is that a Non-Music thread?

I don't personally see that ever happening, but you never know! Where it goes - depends upon if she does it in a hotel or in a stadium!

There's plenty of room for a sports forum. We're bound to have threads on MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, Soccer, PGA, NASCAR and possibly stuff like the Kentucky Derby, Olympics, Indy 500, Goodwill Games, all the different NCAA leagues, Little Leage World Series. Then there'll be the generic "Who's your favourite left-handed quarterback who never appeared in a playoff game" type threads - the possibilities are endless. And as I mentioned that this forum is in its infancy and the potential hasn't even been approached. But what do you think it's going to be like if during baseball season we end up with "The Red Sox thread", "The Yankees thread", "The Cubs thread", "The Dodgers thread", etc. in addition to the "Red Sox vs. Yankees thread"? I just think the forum will get cluttered with a shitload of threads, many of which will peter out after 5 - 10 posts when all those discussions could be combined together in one good "MLB" thread.

Sorry we've hijacked this thread, but the original question was broached in this thread and I think it's good if we as users and the mods weigh in on this subject while the forum is in its infancy.

I'm glad I missed out on this shit sandwich. Thank you very much Billy. By the way, closing this now.