The most remarkable thing about Roger Clemens' return to the Yankees?
It wasn't his announcement, over the Yankee Stadium public address system from George Steinbrenner's box, sending broadcaster Suzyn Waldman into what can only be described as "a tizzy."
It isn't his salary of $28 million dollars for the year -- $1 million more than Alex Rodriguez will make this season.
It isn't the Yankee pitching rotation, which is looking a lot more formidable than the group that featured the likes of Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa -- since banished to the disabled list and the minor leagues, respectively.
It isn't Brian Cashman's payroll, which is now north of $200 million.
It isn't even Clemens' age -- his 45th birthday is this August.
No, the most remarkable thing, by far, is the fact that all the parties involved -- Clemens, his agents, Yankee management -- managed to keep this signing secret until Sunday's seventh-inning stretch. The Yankees fired their strength and conditioning coach and the story made the back page of all the New York tabloids and a lead on SportsCenter -- but they managed to sign the most successful pitcher of the last quarter-century to the largest single-season contract ever -- and caught the media, the fans, even Clemens' new teammates completely off-guard.
They really should be more careful about shocking people that way. I'm really not sure Suzyn Waldman can handle the strain.
Will Clemens' return make a difference in the pennant race? Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus crunches the numbers for SI.com.
Originally published at About Baseball
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