Yankees eye Clemens: Steinbrenner in the lead; Sox not giving up By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 12/12/96 Those were not the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future haunting Red Sox president John Harrington and general manager Dan Duquette on Yawkey Way yesterday afternoon. Instead, they were visited by the specter of Roger Clemens in pinstripes, rekindling a ghastly trend that began with G.H. Ruth and has continued through Sparky Lyle, Luis Tiant and Wade Boggs. With the Clemens watch in its final hours, a confident George Steinbrenner is poised to make him a member of the New York Yankees, outbidding the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays and the Olde Towne Team for the 34-year-old righthander. Duquette and Harrington, meanwhile, were in contact with Clemens' agent, Alan Hendricks, in a last-minute effort to forestall that eventuality. Neither man was willing to acknowledge what they were willing to do to win back Clemens, though it is likely they would have to increase their four-year, $24 million bid, not all of which is guaranteed. ``We're still in this, we're still working on it and we haven't thrown in the towel,'' a club spokesman said last night. Steinbrenner, meanwhile, reiterated that he has not yet made an offer, unlike the Indians, who have a four-year, $28 million deal on the table, with some of that money deferred. How high would Steinbrenner go? ``We think his ceiling is limitless,'' said one Indians official, who expects Clemens will sign with the Yankees. The Blue Jays, who had been thought to have bowed out of the running after showing early interest, are a surprising finalist, having made what one source called ``a very flattering offer'' to Clemens. Indians GM John Hart was called out of a scouting meeting to speak with Hendricks, who was in contact with all four finalists yesdterday. One source close to the negotiations said that the jockeying is pretty much over. All that is left, he said, is for Clemens to make his decision. It could come today. It's almost inconceivable that it could go past this weekend. The Red Sox, meanwhile, lost out on another possible fallback candidate when righthander Jaime Navarro signed a four-year, $20 million deal to leave the Chicago Cubs for the crosstown White Sox. The Yankees will sign lefthander David Wells if Clemens signs elsewhere; the Blue Jays also are interested in Wells. The Indians are inclined to settle for Kevin Tapani, who reportedly turned down a three-year, $12 million offer from the Cubs. Boston? Good question. Agent Scott Boras said yesterday that Duquette told him the Red Sox would be interested in Steve Avery, the lefthander who became a free agent when Atlanta did not offer him arbitration last weekend. Tim Naehring, meanwhile, was awaiting an offer from Baltimore; he already has a three-year, $10 million bid from the Indians, who were pressing him for an answer. This story ran on page e1 of the Boston Globe on 12/12/96.