It’s a bird, no it’s a plane, nope, it’s the Rocket! Roger Clemens has officially announced his return to baseball today. It’s tough to keep a good player out of the sport. Roger Clemens gave into the lure of competition and money. After months of rumors and flirtations with various teams, Roger Clemens has decided to return to Houston—and they sure need him. The Houston Astros basically laid it all out on the table. They are in a desperate situation. Andy Pettitte has been struggling and they found themselves 6.5 back of the NL Central Division leading Cardinals and 3.5 back in the NL Wild Card Race.

Knowing they had to make a move to save the season, the Houston Astros and Roger Clemens agreed to a $22,000,022 deal. The deal includes a $322,000 minor league contract, which Clemens will begin shortly. Roger Clemens is going to start in single A ball and basically work his way up to the majors. It will help get him into MLB form and he’s expected to make just one start per level.

It’s quite possible that Roger Clemens will be officially wearing a Houston Astros uniform in just four weeks from now. His salary will be prorated based on the time he is actually pitching for the Astros, so he is most likely anxious to get with the team. Some estimations have him earning just over $12,000,000 of his contract—certainly not a bad deal for not playing in spring training and only playing half of a season.

Lost in all of this hoopla is the fact that Houston helped raise and set the bar for quality pitching. A solid pitcher is now worth at least $22,000,000 per year. So pay attention Brad Penny, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Webb, Jose Contreras and every other solid pitcher in the league. If you are not making around $22,000,000, you are losing out. This new deal sure does make those $9 million and $10 million per year deals look cheap.

The Houston Astros have shown how far a team is willing to go for a solid player when they think there is a good chance of winning. Without a salary cap (shudder), where will salaries be in 5-10 years? If Roger Clemens comes back and pitches pretty well, what are the values of those pitchers above his stats and around him? Time will tell. Roger Clemens will most likely provide a huge energy boost to his team and the Houston fans. Although, it sure would have made for an interesting year had he went to the Yankees or the Red Sox.