Epstein chats with Clemens's agent

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Roger Clemens's agent met with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein the day after Team USA was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic.

Was this the next step in the Sox' determined attempt to lure the Rocket back to Boston, an effort that included a Tom Werner-produced video and a stealth flight to Houston last month by ownership and Epstein to visit with the seven-time Cy Young Award winner?

Epstein insisted yesterday that was not the case.

''It was a routine spring training visit," the GM wrote in an e-mail when asked about his Friday meeting with Alan Hendricks, who along with his brother, Randy, has represented Clemens throughout his storied career.

Randy Hendricks used virtually identical language in an e-mail confirming his brother's stop in Fort Myers.

''It was a typical spring training visit, that's all," Randy Hendricks wrote.

But while agents do typically make the rounds of spring training camps, the timing of the visit, and the amount of interest in Clemens's future plans -- whether he intends to retire at age 43, return to his hometown Houston Astros, or sign as a free agent with the Sox, Yankees, or Rangers -- undoubtedly will fuel speculation that Clemens is embracing the storybook scenario of returning to Boston, where it all began 22 years ago.

Hendricks did confirm what has been widely anticipated for some time -- that Clemens does not intend to pitch for anyone for at least the first two months of the season.

''As things stand now, Roger does not intend to play in April or May," wrote Hendricks. ''We will reevaluate things in mid-May.

''I am not concerned with working out a deal with any of the four teams if Roger decides to play. All four are interested and all four independently make good sense. I think it will be good for Roger to be 'retired' for a couple of months and then reflect upon how he feels.

''We all know he can still pitch quite well at the major league level."

Clemens pitched the last two seasons in Houston, taking the Astros to the World Series last season after helping them reach Game 7 of the NLCS in 2004. He pitched for a hometown discount of $5 million in '04 (with an additional $1.4 million in attendance-based bonuses), but last season agreed to a one-year, $18 million deal after filing for arbitration.

This winter, the Astros did not offer Clemens arbitration, making him a free agent; so they could not re-sign him before May 1. The Sox, along with the Rangers and Yankees, seized that opportunity to express their interest.

The Rangers have attempted to match the Sox in degree of interest. Owner Tom Hicks met with Clemens when the University of Texas, Clemens's school, played in the Rose Bowl. Hicks went to see him pitch against South Africa in the WBC, and he hosted Clemens at Rangers camp last week when Team USA was in Arizona.

Clemens so far has been noncommittal about his intentions, suggesting his first inclination is to retire. But he has changed his mind before, most notably in 2003, when he pitched for the Yankees in the World Series in what was billed as a grand finale, then elected to join close friend Andy Pettitte and return home to Houston when Pettitte elected to leave the Yankees as a free agent.

''For me, right now, it's goodbye," Clemens said in a statement Thursday night after taking the decision in the 2-1 loss to Mexico.

But Clemens, who ranks ninth all-time in wins with 341 and second in strikeouts with 4,502, told the Globe's Nick Cafardo in a March 6 interview that he was greatly impressed by the Sox' presentation. He also acknowledged that Al Nipper, Boston's interim pitching coach, is one of his ''best buddies" in the game.

Clemens, who has an acute appreciation for baseball history, won 192 games for the Sox, which ties him with Cy Young for most in team history. Coming back to be the Sox' all-time winner appeals to him, Clemens confidants say. He may also determine he has a better chance of returning to the postseason with the Sox than he would with the Astros, who may be losing one of their icons, Jeff Bagwell, who has a bad shoulder.

''Theo spoke to me afterward and he was explaining to me how things have changed and everything," Clemens said in the March 6 interview. ''I cut him off at one point and told him, 'You don't have to explain that to me. I know that.'

''I've seen for myself how things have changed when I come up there to see my friends. But I liked it the way it was before, so you don't have to sell me on the organization or the city or the ballpark and all the great changes they've made there."

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and reliever Mike Timlin, who both returned to camp yesterday after playing for the US in the WBC, said they lobbied Clemens to come to Boston.

''I told him to make sure he keeps his eye on us -- don't forget about us," said Varitek, who caught Clemens in several side sessions.

When asked if it appeared Clemens's interest in coming back to Boston was genuine, Varitek said, ''Rightfully so, for what he's done here."

Timlin also made his sales pitch.

''From the things I've heard him talk about in the paper and on TV, I told him the aspects he brought up, we have those," Timlin said.

''We've got a good lineup, we've got a good pitching staff, we play solid defense, we have a chance to be in the playoffs and make a run at the World Series. Those are the criteria he was speaking about."

Asked to predict whether Clemens will retire, Timlin shrugged.

''Hard to say," he said. ''He left room enough to change his mind."