A Bronx Bombshell

By ROSS NEWHAN

Feb. 19, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

VERO BEACH, Fla. —

Hardly a team in need of more propulsion, the New York Yankees got it anyway Thursday in the form of “the Rocket,” acquiring Roger Clemens in a trade that carried George Steinbrenner’s fingerprints.

The Yankee owner waited only until the opening day of spring training to authorize the acquisition of the five-time American League Cy Young Award winner from the Toronto Blue Jays, breaking up--at least somewhat--the team that won an American League-record 125 games and swept the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

“It’s not an easy decision to tinker with success, but we’re a pro-active organization that’s constantly looking to improve--and I think we have,” Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman said from the club’s training base in Tampa. “I don’t see how you can add a Roger Clemens and not have the potential to be better. . . .

“We gave up three quality players, but my knees buckled [in anticipation] when the Blue Jays called yesterday with this proposal.”

In a three-for-one transaction, the Yankees basically traded 35-year-old left-hander David Wells, who was 18-4 last year and pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins, for the 36-year-old Clemens, who was 20-6 with a 2.65 earned-run average and 271 strikeouts in 234 2/3 innings, winning a second consecutive Cy Young and his unprecedented fifth.

Wells was coming off his best season, but in a cohesive clubhouse the man known as “Boomer” still tends to march to his own beat--most often heavy metal--and has had a tenuous relationship with Manager Joe Torre, complaining at times that Torre hasn’t always shown the respect and confidence Wells thought he had earned.

Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone referred to the left-hander’s often opinionated and unusual personality Thursday when he said, “The person hurt most by this trade is [talk-show host] Howard Stern. Without David Wells as a guest, his ratings are certain to plummet.”

The Yankees also gave up infield prospect Homer Bush and left-handed reliever Graeme Lloyd. Bush was relegated to the New York bench behind Chuck Knoblauch but will battle for the starting second base job with Toronto. Lloyd was an important but not indispensable member of the deep Yankee bullpen.

In other words, the Yankees landed the Rocket, arguably baseball’s best pitcher, at a comparatively modest cost--in both player and payroll contexts. Jolted this week by arbitration losses to Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees get Clemens without having to renegotiate his contract, which has two years at $16.1 million remaining.

The Yankee payroll is expected to soar over an American League-high $80 million, but Cashman said they have made no negotiating commitment to Clemens. His desire for an extended or renegotiated contract with his new team had been one of the major stumbling blocks as the Blue Jays tried to satisfy his demand to be traded to a contender of his choice--in the best of all worlds, the hometown Houston Astros.

At baseball’s December meetings in Nashville, Houston General Manager Gerry Hunsicker called a news conference to berate Clemens and his agents for proposing that the remaining $16.1 million be renegotiated into a three-year, $43.5-million contract--a one-year raise of $27.4 million.

Astro owner Drayton McLane apologized to Clemens and his agents for Hunsicker’s remarks and ordered his chastised GM to reopen talks with the Blue Jays, but the teams were unable to agree on the players Houston would give up.

The Yankees jumped when the payroll-purging Blue Jays, unwilling to let the Clemens situation fester through spring training, dropped their pursuit of Orlando Hernandez and proposed the Wells package.

Wells will make $4.5 million this year. The Blue Jays have a $4.5-million option on 2000, or can buy it out for $1.5 million. Wells and Clemens, as players traded with multiyear contracts, can both demand trades after this season.

“If nothing works out, I can still demand that, but I don’t see that happening,” Clemens said of his own situation, suggesting during a conference call that the opportunity to join a championship team outweighed any financial considerations. Of course, Clemens had a chance to join the Yankees two years ago but went for a four-year, $28-million contract and the “better family fit” of Toronto. The Yankees then signed free agent Wells.

Thursday, Clemens said he had no regret about that original decision but was elated to get a second chance to come to New York.

“It’s another great challenge,” he said. “I talked to George Steinbrenner this morning and I’ve met my match in a guy who wants to win. He settles for nothing less. I know the tradition, and love pitching in New York. They’re the champions. I just want to slide in the side door.”

Clemens didn’t slide out of Boston; he was pushed by a management that said he was in his twilight. He promptly won two Cy Youngs for the Blue Jays. Toronto General Manager Gord Ash, reached at the club’s camp in Dunedin, Fla., was asked if he was disappointed Clemens didn’t want to stay for the final two years of his contract.

“I’m not disappointed,” he said. “I’m a realist. I understand his situation and ours. He was nothing but sensational for us. I’d be more disappointed if we had made a future-oriented trade and got nothing back for the present, but we got three players who can help us this year.”

Toronto knows Wells. He made his major league debut as a Blue Jay in 1987 and was released in 1992. He obviously has matured and improved since.

Ash talked to Wells Thursday and said the pitcher was clearly shocked by a the trade.

“But he also said to me, ‘Match me up with Clemens [this season] and I’ll kick his butt,’ ” Ash said. “Wouldn’t Howard Stern have loved for Wells to have saved that one for the air?”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Trade Deficit

Comparing the statisics of Roger Clemens, starter for 15 seasons, to those of David Wells, nine seasons, (number in parentheses is ranking among active pitchers; NR--not in top 10):

Career

Clemens

Record: 233-124

ERA: 2.95 (3)

Strikeouts: 3,153 (10)

Ks per 9 IP: 8.67 (5)

Hits per 9 IP: 7.51 (7)

BB per 9 IP: 2.78 (NR)

1998

Record: 20-6

ERA: 2.65 (1)

Strikeouts: 271 (1)