Clemens agreed to a $22 million contract Wednesday to pitch for Houston for the rest of 2006, ending months of speculation around baseball and in his own mind whether he could – or even wanted to – play a 23rd season.
The 43-year-old Clemens is agreeing first to a minor league deal that pays $322,000 over the five-month minor league season. He is due to make his first start next Tuesday at Lexington, Ky., the Class A affiliate where oldest son Koby plays.
When he is added to the major league roster, he gets a one-year contract worth $22,000,022 – his uniform number is 22. Because he won’t be playing the full season, he gets only a prorated percentage of that, which would come to about $12.25 million if he rejoins Houston in late June.
Clemens has a career record of 341-172 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,502 strikeouts, pitching for Boston, Toronto, the Yankees and Astros. An 11-time All-Star and winner of the 1986 AL MVP Award, he is tied for eighth on the career wins list and is second in strikeouts behind Nolan Ryan (5,714).