The Roger Clemens Trade

by David Fleitz

When I heard that the Yankees sent David Wells and three other players to the Blue Jays for Roger Clemens, I thought: What on earth for?

Clemens won the Cy Young award for the fifth time last year with a 20-6 record. However, Wells went 18-4, which percentagewise is a better record. Also, the Yankees won 114 games in the regular season and 125 in all last year. Why are they messing with the top of their pitching rotation?

I figure that there has to be some explanation. Some suggestions:

1. David Wells didn't get along with Joe Torre.

I've heard that, though I really don't know if it's true or not. Perhaps it's true, and the Yankees figure that if anyone messes up the chemistry in the clubhouse in 1999, it would be a flake like Wells.

2. Clemens will last longer than Wells.

Clemens is older, but Roger is a conditioning fiend, and of course you can look at Wells and see that he isn't. They are both in their late 30s, but Clemens has a better chance of pitching to age 40 than Wells does.

3. Clemens will draw more fans and TV viewers than Wells.

The Yankees couldn't resist putting a five-time Cy Young winner in New York and seeing if he strikes out 20 men in a game again. However, Wells was a popular guy with the fans also and he pitched a perfect game last year.

4. The Yankees wanted to keep Clemens out of the Indians' hands.

This last reason, I feel, is the real reason behind the trade. Cleveland has one glaring weakness - their rotation is full of third starters like Nagy, Burba, Wright, and Colon. They're going to cross their fingers and hope for good things from Dwight Gooden and - get this - a 40 year old Orel Hershiser. I guess Mickey Lolich was busy.

Still, the Indians are so strong in other places that they have a virtual bye to the Central Division title. The only thing they need is a number one starter, and the addition of Clemens may have pushed them past the Yankees in the playoffs.

Of course, the Indians could make a deal with Toronto for Wells, especially since Wells seems so unhappy. Still, the Yankees would rather see Wells in Cleveland than Clemens any day. The Yankees, like the Indians, are already planning for the playoffs, even though the season itself hasn't been played yet, and they would rather face Wells than Clemens three times in a seven-game series. This, I feel, was the real point of the whole trade.

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