Clemens set for return according to agent

[AFJF]

Rocket set for return, says agent

By ANTHONY McCARRON

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

It is "more than 50-50" that Roger Clemens will return to the mound this season, according to Randy Hendricks, one of the Rocket's Houston-based agents.

Hendricks, in a question-and-answer session with the Houston Chronicle published in the paper's baseball blog yesterday, also said it's likely that Clemens will pitch a shortened season, just as he did for Houston last year. Clemens hasn't made a decision, Hendricks said, but would pitch for only the Astros, Red Sox or Yankees.

"I don't think any team is really ahead," Hendricks told the paper. "Obviously, Houston has the home-field advantage."

While the Astros are close to Clemens' home, they also had a glaring failure the past two seasons - poor run support for their sterling starting staff. Hendricks, an Astros season-ticket holder, noted the deficiency and even opined that the team plays "uptight offensively" behind Clemens. "Hopefully, if Roger plays for the Astros in 2007, that will change," Hendricks said.

Clemens has always enjoyed drama, so a return to Boston, where he started his career as a 21-year-old in 1984, or New York, where he was on two World Series champions, is appealing as well. The Yankees covet Clemens to replace the departed Randy Johnson, and having Andy Pettitte as a pinstriped teammate again might help lure the Rocket back to the Bronx.