From foxsports.com:

"Astros' demands halt Clemens trade to Boston"

"The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros allowed a trade to break down that would have sent Roger Clemens back to the city where he spent the first 13 seasons of his major-league career, according to the Providence Journal.

The Journal cited a Boston TV report that said the two sides spent Thursday talking about a potential deal only to see it fall through due to the Astros' demand for minor-league prospects.

The New York Daily News also reported Thursday the Astros had placed Clemens on waivers earlier this month, and the Red Sox claimed him.

Houston consequently pulled Clemens off waivers. And it was thought the Red Sox made the claim in an attempt to block a potential trade to the Yankees.

Teams are essentially offered players on waivers in inverse order of the standings. So Boston was offered Clemens before the Yankees got their shot.

Players can only be pulled back from waivers once. The claiming team gets the player on the second try.

But now, it is thought the Red Sox would actually like to have Clemens pitch at Fenway Park again, an idea that was essentially crushed when the team balked at Houston's high trade demands.

Clemens became one of the top pitchers in Red Sox history when he pitched for the team from 1984-1996.

But was the deal ever really close to happening?

The Boston Globe doesn't seem to think so, saying the Sox lost "any possible shot" at Clemens when the Astros pulled him off the waiver wire.

The Globe also points out that teams lower than the Red Sox in the standings would also have put in a claim for Clemens, who would be a steal with one more season left on his current contract at $5 million.

If a weaker, pitching-hungry team claimed The Rocket, the Sox would not have been able to even discuss a trade with Houston."

No, I don't want Roger back. He's a pompous ass.

That was a close call.