Clemens Might Be Done for Season

On the day when the Red Sox honored Roger Clemens for his second 20-strikeout performance, the three-time Cy Young Award winner said he may have pitched his last game for Boston.

“I’m going to go about my work as if I’m going to pitch Saturday. If the game is meaningless, then I have to sit back and listen to what I’ve been advised,” Clemens said before Tuesday night’s game against Baltimore. “I want to play four more years, and I need to think about that.”

Clemens, who has spent his entire 13-year career with the Red Sox, is eligible to become a free agent at the end of the season. He has said he would like to stay in Boston, but the team has a policy against giving more than two guaranteed years to pitchers.

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Baseball’s executive council and labor policy committee held separate conference calls with acting Commissioner Bud Selig on Tuesday, but resumption of negotiations remained on hold.

Negotiators for management and the players union reached agreement on key economic issues in early August, but ongoing internal debate among owners has thwarted completion of the deal. Union leaders, citing the difficulty of getting player ratification in the off-season, believe an agreement must be reached this week, but a management source disputed that, saying the union can always arrange ratification through its executive board.