The Grass Was Always Greener: Red Sox Make Progress in Attempt to Sign Roger Clemens

A good example of how a team can distort contract negotiations with a free agent player at the expense of a competing team, and doing so right on the competitor's own turf makes it seem even sweeter:

According to Sports Radio WEEI in Boston, Roger Clemens had dinner with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and interim pitching coach Al Nipper on Sunday night [in Arlington, Texas, where the Sox will begin the season] and met members of the team on Monday.

We're guessing this wasn't what Rangers owner Tom Hicks had in mind when he invited Clemens to Opening Day. The Red Sox have taken advantage and used the time to try to lure the 43-year-old back to Boston, with David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield and Josh Beckett among those talking to him today. Clemens isn't expected to decide on his future for at least another month.

The Red Sox also provided Clemens with a video of his good times in Boston. Clemens apparently told Chris Snow of the Boston Globe: "my two youngest kids cried when they saw the video, and my family is really warming to the idea of pitching again in Boston."

I've always found it interesting when teams try to manipulate the situational factors that affect free agent players' presumed preferences, and when they try to exploit the cognitive biases that afflict players and all of us in our thinking. Along those lines, I assume that Theo Epstein and gang didn't reminisce about everything from Clemens' previous stay in Boston.

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