Boston, New York and Texas are the main suitors for the seven-time Cy Young Award-winner, who says he'd be happy to pitch in any of the three cities.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, December 17, 2005

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Roger Clemens is glad he didn't have to decide about his major league future two months ago, when he had two small tears in his back and both hamstrings were sore.

"They would have gotten the wrong answer, which I was fully ready to give them," Clemens said Thursday night. "That I'd had enough."

But now his rested body is feeling better, and Clemens is now pondering whether to pitch again -- or retire again.

And as to where he'll pitch . . .

"It's the same players," he said, referring to the teams he'd be willing to play for. "It's Houston, Texas [meaning the Rangers], New York [Yankees] and Boston. I love all those places."

Speaking publicly for the first time since the Astros declined to offer him salary arbitration last week, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner reiterated that he won't make a call until at least late January or early February, just as his agents have been saying.

The Astros' decision not to offer arbitration means Clemens cannot re-sign with the National League champions until May 1. The Red Sox, Yankees and Rangers have contacted his representatives about the possibility of Clemens pitching for them next season.

While telling the crowd at the Texas Collegiate League dinner that he loves all those places, Clemens quickly added that he isn't even discussing those possibilities right now with his agents.

"They're doing their thing . . . just leaving all the options for me, so I can take my time and decide if I want to do this," Clemens said.

The Rocket retired after pitching in the 2003 World Series for the Yankees, then changed his mind and joined buddy Andy Pettitte in Houston. Clemens is 31-12 with a 2.43 E.R.A. in 65 starts the past two seasons.

He won another Cy Young Award in 2004, when the Astros won a playoff series for the first time. He was third in the N.L. voting this year behind 20-game winners Chris Carpenter and Dontrelle Willis after going 13-8 with a career-best 1.87 E.R.A..

Not wanting to wait for Clemens to make his decision, the Astros decided Dec. 7 not to offer him arbitration.

"I was fine with it," Clemens said. "Talking with family, they wanted me to wait for any decision. So once I saw that this was the way to go, I would stick to it somewhat. The old 99.9 percent [in 2003]" -- Clemens at the time said he was 99.9 percent sure he would retire -- "didn't really work out."

Clemens, whose 341 wins in 22 seasons ties him for eighth on the career victory list, wants to be involved with the United States team during the inaugural World Baseball Classic next March. But he hasn't yet committed to pitch.

"I have told them that I will play if I feel well enough to play," Clemens said. "That doesn't mean that I would play during the season."

Clemens was forced out of Game One of the World Series against the White Sox after only two innings when he aggravated his hamstring. Chicago went on to a four-game sweep.

If Clemens comes back, the Yankees and Red Sox are two of his former teams. Or he could follow the same finishing path as Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Famer and only pitcher who has more than Clemens' 4,502 career strikeouts. Ryan pitched in Houston, then got the last of his 5,714 strikeouts with the Rangers.

ROGER CLEMENS

PLAYED WITH THE RED SOX: 1984-96

SINCE THEN: Toronto, 1997-98; N.Y. Yankees, 1999-2003; Houston, 2004-05.