Quality Time.

All of the Clemens Mercenary outrage seems a bit dated since he had the same contract perks with Houston.

In any case, I'm pretty sure the term "great mercenary" is meant as an insult:

"When the time comes for the folks in Cooperstown to detail the career of Roger Clemens on his Hall of Fame plaque, one can only hope they don't forget this tribute:

'One of the game's great mercenaries.' "

Actually, I don't think Clemens will be worth it. I think he will be a better-than-average mercenary, for sure, but not great. Also, if the Yankees miss the playoffs, Cashman will have to answer why he spent so much money on one player and why he took development time away from DeSalvo and Rasner.


"For that paltry sum, you certainly can't ask a player to hang around between starts, so the Yankees also gave Clemens permission to leave the team on days he's not scheduled to pitch. Manager Joe Torre supposedly ran that little item past veterans such as Derek Jeter, with no complaints."

We'll see how Clemens reacts. I'm guessing he'll show up every day. I don't really think it matters too much.

Javier Vazquez showed up every day. Tony Womack showed up every day. Juan Acevedo showed up every day. Alberto Castillo showed up every day. Luis Vizcaino shows up every day. Jeff Weaver showed up every day.

In fact, when the opponents heard that Jeff Weaver was pitching, they'd send a limousine and a police escort to make sure he got to the Stadium on time.

With great teammates like that, you don't need prostatitis.