Astros to Clemens: See ya — maybe

So it's happened: The Astros decided yesterday not to offer Roger Clemens salary arbitration, meaning Clemens cannot re-sign with the team before May 1. But it doesn't mean Clemens won't be back. And it doesn't mean he will, either. As Houstonist noted Tuesday, nobody knows exactly what Clemens is going to do.

That's exactly why the Astros couldn't wait for Clemens to announce whether he plans to rejoin the team next season. If they had, it would have meant tying up about $20 million of their payroll on an uncertain deal — and, as Clemens' lovable agent said, the Astros and the Rocket don't owe each other anything. We can't help but think that remark influenced this one just a little:

"We've had two great years, and they were special years," general manager Tim Purpura said. "The fact of the matter is Roger's 43 years old ... we're not talking about somebody in the middle of a great career. We're talking about somebody who's at the end of a great career."

The Astros still have a strong starting rotation, and with that $20 mil free, they might be able to make it even better. Will the team lose anything if Clemens doesn't return? Yes — when he pitched last season, the games sold out. The buzz Clemens generated is worth more that Houstonist can count in ticket sales, and the argument can be made that the team wouldn't have made it to the World Series without him. But the fact remains that Clemens was plagued by injuries after August, and there's no telling how he would do in a full 2006 season. It's an expensive gamble.

So what happens to Clemens? We'll see. Two of his old teams, the Yankees and the Red Sox, want him, and ESPN's Jayson Stark brings up a worst-case scenario in which he goes to the Rangers. Oh, our wounded pride.

Fact is, no one will know what Clemens plans to do until January, February or whenever he decides to tell us. In the meantime, we'll see how the Astros lineup shapes up. The team's going to have a thirst for another Series appearance — it just remains to be seen whether that's with or without the Rocket.