HOUSTON SPORTS HOF

Roger Clemens, Clyde Drexler, & Sheryl Swoopes to be honored at star-studded hall of fame event

Roger Clemens, Clyde Drexler, & Sheryl Swoopes to be honored at star-studded hall of fame event
The "Rocket" Roger Clemens. Photo by Getty Images

Roger Clemens, Clyde Drexler, and Sheryl Swoopes share more than a mutual history of super-stardom here — they all also wore the same number. Now, these three legends who donned No. 22 will be honored in our own hall of fame.

The fifth annual Houston Sports Awards will induct Clemens, Drexler, and Swoopes into the 2022 Houston Sports Hall of Fame at Wortham Center at 6 pm Wednesday, April 20. The elegant affair boasts a Casino Royale flair and — in honor of No. 22 — a “Deuces Wild” theme. Celebrity guests include Simone Biles, Hannah Storm, and Toby Keith.

This legendary trio hardly needs much backstory. Clemens, a graduate of Spring Woods High School, quickly rose to fame with his intimidating, blistering pitches that earned him the nickname “Rocket” and seven Cy Young Awards over 24 seasons — an MLB record. At University of Texas, Clemens led the team to a College World Series title in 1983. Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees, securing two World Series titles. He spent 12 seasons with the Boston Red Sox and later, came home to the Astros.

Clyde Drexler (left) led the Rockets to their second-straight title. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Also another hometown legend, Drexler graduated from Sterling High School and later became a founding member of University of Houston’s Phi Slama Jama teams, taking them to two Final Four runs. Glossed “Clyde the Glide” for the way he soared through the air, Drexler spent 12 seasons with the Portland Trailblazers. In 1995, he was part of a blockbuster trade that brought him home to the Houston Rockets, where he joined UH alum and superstar Hakeem Olajuwon. The duo helped the Rockets clinch their second consecutive NBA title. His No. 22 jersey was retired by both the Rockets and Trailblazers.

“This is a tremendous honor, the Houston Sports Hall of Fame,” said Drexler, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member, in a statement, “with world renowned athletes and contributors that are part of that, and to be included is a tremendous honor.’’

Sheryl Swoopes is a WNBA legend. WNBA/Facebook

Texas Tech standout Swoopes led the Red Raiders to an NCAA title in 1993. She was the first player to sign with the WNBA’s Houston Comets, where she led the team to the first four WNBA titles. Famed for giving birth to a son during a season, Swoopes is a three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, a three-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and a two-time WNBA scoring champion. She is also a three-time Olympic gold medalist and is a member of the basketball hall of fame.

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Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman are hot names at the Winter Meetings. Composite Getty Image.

The woeful state of the Astros' farm system has made it very expensive to continue maintaining a good team, prohibitively so (in part self-imposed) from having a great team. Even if they re-sign Alex Bregman, trading Framber Valdez and/or Kyle Tucker for prospects could snap the Astros' run of eight straight postseason appearances. But if they KNOW that no way do they intend to offer Framber five years 130 million dollars, Tucker 7/225 or whatever their free agent markets might be after next season, keeping them for 2025 but getting nothing but 2026 compensatory draft picks for them could do multi-year damage to the franchise.

The time is here for the Astros to be aggressively shopping both. It doesn't make trading them obligatory, but even though many purported top prospects amount to little or nothing (look up what the Astros traded to Detroit for Justin Verlander, to Pittsburgh for Gerrit Cole, to Arizona for Zack Greinke) if strong packages are offered the Astros need to act if unwilling (reasonably or not) to pay Valdez/Tucker.

Last offseason the Milwaukee Brewers traded pitching ace Corbin Burnes one season ahead of his free agency and then again won the National League Central, the San Diego Padres dealt Juan Soto and wound up much improved and a playoff team after missing the 2023 postseason. But nailing the trades is critical. The Brewers got their everyday rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz and two other prospects. The Padres got quality starter Michael King, catcher Kyle Hagashioka, and three prospects.

Back to Bregman

Meanwhile, decision time approaches for Alex Bregman. He, via agent Scott Boras, wants 200-plus million dollars. Don't we all. If he can land that from somebody, congratulations. The Astros' six-year 156 million dollar contract offer is more than fair. That's 26 million dollars per season and would take Bregman within a few months of his 37th birthday. If rounding up to 160 mil gets it done, ok I guess. Going to 200 would be silly.

While Bregman hasn't been a superstar (or even an All-Star) since 2019, he's still a very good player. That includes his 2024 season which showed decline offensively. Not falling off a cliff decline other than his walk rate plunging about 45 percent, but decline. If Bregman remains the exact player he was this season, six-156 is pricey but not crazy in the current marketplace. But how likely is Bregman to not drop off further in his mid-30s? As noted before, the storyline is bogus that Bregman has been a postseason monster. Over seven League Championship Series and four World Series Bregman has a .196 batting average.
The Astros already should be sweating some over Jose Altuve having shown marked decline this season, before his five year 125 million dollar extension covering 2025-2029 even starts. Altuve was still very good offensively though well down from 2022 and 2023 (defensively his data are now awful), but as he approaches turning 35 years old in May some concern is warranted when locked into paying a guy until he's nearly 39 1/2.

Jim Crane is right in noting that long contracts paying guys huge money in their later years generally go poorly for the clubs.

Bang for your buck

Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez is heading into the second year of a five-year, $124 million extension. That's 24.8 million dollars per season. Jose Ramirez is a clearly better player than Alex Bregman. Ramirez has been the better player for five consecutive seasons, and only in 2023 was it even close. It should be noted that Ramirez signed his extension in April of 2022. He is about a year and a half older than Bregman so the Guardians are paying their superstar through his age 36 season.

Bregman benefits from playing his home games at soon-to be named Daikin Park. Bregman hit 26 home runs this year. Using ball-tracking data, if he had played all his games in Houston, Bregman would have hit 31 homers. Had all his swings been taken at Yankee Stadium, the "Breggy Bomb" count would have been 25. In Cleveland, just 18. Ramirez hit 41 dingers. If all his games were home games 40 would have cleared the fences, if all had been at Minute Maid Park 47 would have been gone.

Matt Chapman recently signed a six-year 151 million dollar deal to stay with the San Francisco Giants. That's 25.166 million per season. Chapman was clearly a better player than Bregman this year. But it's the only season of Chapman's career that is the case. Chapman is 11 months older than Bregman, so his lush deal with the Giants carries through his age 37 season.

The Giants having overpaid Chapman doesn't obligate the Astros to do the same with Bregman. So, if you're the Astros do you accept overpaying Bregman? They would almost certainly be worse without him in 2025, but what about beyond? Again, having not one elite prospect in their minor league system boxes them in. Still, until/unless the Seattle Mariners upgrade their offense, the Astros cling to American League West favorites status. On the other hand, WITH Bregman, Tucker, and Valdez the Astros are no postseason lock.

For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube

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