``At least he's not going to the Yankees," said Francona, when informed of the Newsday report that Clemens had agreed to a one-year deal that would pay him about $3.5 million a month.
The Sox manager could have used Clemens, considering the shape his pitching staff is in.
David Wells is headed back to the disabled list today to make room for David Pauley, who is coming up from Portland to start tonight.
There's also the Matt Clement situation. He and pitching coach Al Nipper were watching video and working on ways to correct the funk the righthander has been in, but that may not be enough.
Last night, Josh Beckett gave up four home runs in the first five innings, two each to Vernon Wells and Troy Glaus.
This was not an easy decision for Clemens; don't buy any report that says it was in the bag for Houston all along. Clemens was tortured by the decision for weeks. Boston really tugged at him.
``He loved the story," said one of his close friends on the Astros. ``Ending where he started. Wearing a Sox cap to the Hall of Fame. All of those things were great. The one thing that came out of all this was Roger repairing his relationship with the Red Sox. He truly would have gone back there."
Clemens was in a no-win situation if it came to choosing between Boston and New York, and some of his close friends have speculated he didn't want to hurt the feelings of fans in either city.
Imagine if Clemens had chosen the Yankees over the Red Sox. Think Johnny Damon got booed badly at Fenway Park? It would have been unbearable for the Rocket.
Rangers owner Tom Hicks disclosed to MLB.com that he was told as of Friday that his team was out of the picture. The Rangers appeared to be a long shot anyway, though they had a few things working for them, including the fact that Hicks and Clemens are both alumni of the University of Texas and that Clemens's wife is from the Dallas area.
In the end, this was probably not about the money, because the Rangers would have paid anything. Ditto the Yankees. We're not sure how far the Red Sox would have gone. If it indeed came down to Boston and Houston, then it was a decision of the heart. There's no way Houston could have outbid the Red Sox.
