Pitch selection a key again

If he winds up choosing retirement or a return to Houston, the Yankees and Red Sox -- and Blue Jays for that matter -- can breathe a sigh of relief. Just as they all did a year ago.

But if Roger Clemens wants to pitch in the big time again, for what likely will be the last time (he will be 45 Aug. 4), then he'll choose a team that in his mind can win it all. If that's the case, can we eliminate Houston? No, because the lure of playing in the same organization as his son Koby will still be there. If he chooses Houston, it will likely be for a discount on the pro rated $22 million he received from the Astros last season. He knows that $22 million -- or $21.111 million -- will be there for the taking in New York or Boston. Sox chairman Tom Werner confirmed that the Sox were in touch with Clemens's agent, Randy Hendricks, throughout spring training and have been recently as well. There have been internal discussions on how to persuade Clemens to sign, but both teams are keeping their intentions close to the vest. The competition for Clemens between the Sox and Yankees might supersede their 19 meetings on the field this year.

The Clemens game plan is definitely starting to formulate in both camps, though Hendricks says Clemens probably won't begin to make his decision until May.

"Of course, we still have strong interest in signing Roger if he decides to pitch this year," said Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "As always, we are in good touch with the Hendricks brothers, and I'm sure we will talk more -- in private -- if and when Roger decides to play."

While it would be hard to say Clemens's decision could tilt the balance of power in the American League East, whoever acquires him is going to solidify their rotation in a way they wouldn't be able to at the trading deadline, short of acquiring Dontrelle Willis (which is unlikely if Florida is in the race). There won't be another Clemens available on July 31, I don't care how old he is.

Hendricks said the Sox' decision to move Jonathan Papelbon back to the closer role certainly helped the Boston scenario, leaving an opening in the rotation. But the Yankees might have two openings.

We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that Clemens can be the savior at his age. He can still be a dominating five- or- six-inning pitcher, but he will need a bullpen to pick him up, and I'm told that will be a big part of a decision on where he lands.

Clemens has been a little frustrated with the number of no-decisions the past couple of years in Houston, the result of either an anemic offense or a lackluster bullpen.

It appears, once again, the Sox will have to try the hardest. The checklist on the Yankee side appears to give them the advantage:

1. Andy Pettitte. Clemens has no greater friend in the game.

2. Joe Torre. The manager he's respected and liked the most.

3. New York. It's where he won his first championship.

4. Bullpen. On paper, better than Boston's.

5. Lineup. There's no better one.

6. Need. The Yankees have prospect starters at Triple A, but none are ready yet. They need Clemens to buy them time.

Boston's checklist:

1. He can end it where he started.

2. He can become the all-time victory leader in Sox history.

3. He can make it an uber-rotation.

4. Al Nipper. Still a scout in the organization.

5. The Sox might be more lenient about Clemens's home schedule.

The Yankees will try to accelerate Clemens's timetable. Their rotation has had a rough start with injuries to Chien-Ming Wang (hamstring), Pettitte (back), Mike Mussina (hamstring), and now Carl Pavano (forearm). The problem for the Sox is, the Yankees are hanging in. They're capable of running away with it once they get everyone back. Add Clemens to that?

From what I've been told by people Clemens confides in, he doesn't know what he'll do at this juncture. But we asked five GMs, under the condition of anonymity, and here's how they saw it:

No. 1: Yankees. "They have the best chance to win it all."

No. 2: Yankees. "He's always felt comfortable there, and he's so close to Pettitte."

No. 3: Astros. "I think he stays home if he can. Same problem as last year: He chooses New York, Boston is mad at him. He chooses Boston, New York is mad at him."

No. 4: Yankees. "[Brian] Cashman will convince him he's the difference."

No. 5: Red Sox. "Just a feeling that the Red Sox will shock all of us. It's a happy ending. Roger likes happy endings."

Ichiro in defensive position

A few questions for Ichiro Suzuki on whether experienced Japanese players should be eligible for Rookie of the Year:

You were a Rookie of the Year in the American League in 2001 after hitting .333 in Japan for nine seasons. Should you and others who have come after you, who have so much experience, be eligible?

IS: "If you look at the rules, I would say yes. Those are the rules right now. We didn't make the rules. If we're eligible, we're eligible."

But we're talking about the fact that you and Daisuke Matsuzaka had so much experience playing professional baseball. Japan won the World Baseball Classic over a bunch of countries, including a US team of major leaguers. Obviously, baseball in Japan is very competitive worldwide.

IS: "If you would think in that fashion, you would also have to consider professional baseball in Italy, Taiwan, South Korea . . . I'm not exactly sure how the league in South America is, but in those places, too; it would have to be universal for all countries and not just Japan."

Professional baseball in Japan is far more advanced than the other countries you named. The players who have come here are experienced, with the exception of the first Japanese player to come to the US, Masanori Murakami, who was 20 years old when he pitched for the San Francisco Giants in 1964.

IS: "If you were to make a rule like that, they should have done it from the beginning when the first players came over. Now that the results are out and to say, well, now Japanese baseball play is higher than it was, it wouldn't be fair from now on to change the rules for Daisuke or anyone else who is good enough to be eligible for Rookie of the Year.

"I understand the players are older and more experienced. I was in that boat, but I won the award and was honored to win it as a player who had played in the major leagues for the first time. It was my first year and there were many things I had to get used to and adjust to that first year in the major leagues.

"I think we might be understating how difficult it is for a Japanese player to adjust to the majors that first year. No matter how old you are and how much experience you have, it's your first year. You are a rookie."

Wallace isn't closing the book on Lidge just yet

Astros pitching coach Dave Wallace can't say whether the organization will seek to trade deposed closer Brad Lidge (lots of teams would love to have him, including Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Florida, and the Red Sox), but he knows one thing: "We're going to need him again in that role sooner or later.

"I explained to him the other day, I've gone through this with other guys in the past, with John Wetteland, Eric Gagne, John Franco. It happens. You go back into the bullpen and start working your way back with one good outing after another. You build on it and then one day you're back in it."

Wallace feels the issue with Lidge is mostly location.

"His stuff is very good. He's throwing hard," Wallace said. "I know he doesn't like what's going on, but he's been very professional about it. He knows he has to keep going out there in the situations we put him in. I'd say they'd be from the sixth inning on, for sure.

"I think people are reading too much into this. I think he can straighten this out."

The slide began before Wallace arrived. Lidge allowed a game-winning three-run homer to Albert Pujols in Game 5 of the 2005 NL Championship Series with two outs in the ninth. He was 1-5 with a 5.28 ERA last season, with six blown saves. He had an 11.00 ERA in spring training this year and on Opening Day allowed a game-tying two-out homer to Pittsburgh's Xavier Nady.

"And that home run was a pitch low and away that Nady reached down to hit out," said Wallace. "It wasn't a bad pitch."

Etc.

Touching the bases
Apropos of nothing: 1. The "1180" on Rocco Baldelli's batting glove are the last four digits of the phone number of his family's check-cashing business in Rhode Island. 2. Time for a new agent. Jonathan Papelbon has a split contract, $201,240 if he's in the minors (sure), $425,500 in the majors. No save incentives and one $25,000 All-Star clause. 3. Albert Pujols hit .336 against lefties last year. He started 0 for 10 this year. 4. Do the Brewers really need a major league-high 17 bobblehead giveaways? 5. Which team started the season being outscored, 24-0, in the first inning and going 0 for 30 with runners in scoring position in its first nine games? Your Washington Nationals.

The next generation
Former Red Sox outfielder Kevin Romine was a star at Arizona State and a part of Morgan Magic in 1988. Now he has two sons who could follow the same career path. Austin is a 17-year-old catcher at Lake Forest El Toro (Calif.) High School, and Andrew is a junior shortstop at Arizona State. According to one scout, Austin can hit (32 hits in his first 60 at-bats), but his long-term position might not be catcher, while Andrew is a superb defensive player but has issues as a hitter.

Fielding error
One striking omission from the fan voting on Rawlings's all-time Gold Glovers by position is The Boomer. Was there anyone as skilled with a first baseman's mitt as George Scott? The top six in the voting are Keith Hernandez, Don Mattingly, Wes Parker, J.T. Snow, Vic Power, and Bill White. Though we didn't see the best of Snow in Boston, he was very good, but Scott was as good as we've ever seen here. "He was the best defensive player I ever saw," said Carl Yastrzemski.

You can see why David Wells kiddingly threatened to punch Padres GM Kevin Towers in the jaw if Scott Linebrink had been traded in the offseason. Linebrink might be the best set up man in the game. He's part of a Padres bullpen whose scoreless streak ended at 29 1/3 innings Friday night, just 2 1/3 innings shy of the 1978 team record. Mainstays Linebrink, Cla Meredith, Doug Brocail, and Trevor Hoffman give the hitters a little different look. Why does Towers have such a knack for building bullpens? Simple. "KT has a great eye for pitching talent," said one of his former assistants, Theo Epstein.

Two things the Yankees did this season that haven't helped: doing away with their advance scouts and firing strength coach Jeff Mangold. The advance scouting is now done via video by bullpen coach Joe Kerrigan. But the problem is, the live scouting is something Japanese pitchers really excel with. So the Yankees haven't done Kei Igawa any favors. They replaced Mangold with two "performance enhancer" coaches. Since the start of the season, six Yankees have gone down with muscle strains.

One scout's take on why Josh Beckett has been so successful this season: "He's made a nice move to the middle of the rubber. It's the biggest reason his breaking ball is in the strike zone more often. It's affecting his release point in a positive way."

The Indians have been cursed with weather issues this season. It started in Memphis, where it rained five hours before the Tribe played in the civil rights game. They opened the season in Chicago, where it snowed during two of the three games and the windchill dipped to 19 degrees. They returned to Cleveland, where they got walloped with snow and had to postpone all four games with Seattle. When their series with the Angels was moved to Milwaukee -- where the stadium has a retractable roof -- the area was hit with a record snowfall of 5.2 inches Wednesday.

After watching Akinori Iwamura at third base for Tampa Bay in spring training, the conclusion many of us drew was: can't play. Where's the crow? We might need a helping of it after Iwamura, who went to the Devil Rays after they won the posting bid, came out like the guy everyone made the fuss about once the bell rang. In his first 34 plate appearances, he reached base 19 times. He also made a few highlight plays at third base and looked confident. "A lot of us have been in the game for a long time and we're continually fooled by what we see in spring training," said one of the naysaying scouts.

The worst part for J.D. Durbin, who was claimed on waivers by the Sox last week and designated for assignment the very next day, is being inactive for so long. Durbin, a former second-round pick of the Twins who possesses a pretty good fastball, was a late cut by Minnesota this spring. He was picked up by Arizona, which designated him for assignment because it needed to purchase the contract of Micah Owings. The Sox made their claim, but when Mike Timlin got the thumbs-up to rejoin the roster, Durbin was designated again. The Sox were hoping nobody claimed him, but the Phillies did.

Nice work by Fox Sports Net's Gary Tanguay: The Alan Greenberg Journalism Scholarship Fund, which, starting in June of next year, will go to a senior at Lincoln-Sudbury High pursuing journalism in college. Contributions can be made c/o Robert Wolkon, Esq., Wolkon & Pascucci LLP, One Beacon St., Suite 1320, Boston 02108.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com