Roger Clemens is going to be part of Mariano Rivera’s farewell in Houston

The Yankees finish in Houston. And, as has happened in every other city Mariano Rivera has bid farewell, he will get a sendoff there too. And an old friend will be part of that:

Rivera’s final goodbye ceremony will come in Houston, where the Yankees will play their last game of the regular season against the Astros. And that’s where things probably get a little awkward, at least for some people. For scheduled to take part in the pregame ceremony is none other than Roger Clemens, now a special front-office assistant for the Astros who was a teammate of Rivera’s in New York for five-plus seasons.

Not sure why that’s awkward given that Alex Rodriguez has been playing third base to Rivera’s right for several years and given that Andy Pettitte had his own Yankee Stadium farewell in front of Rivera just last weekend.

But as we have learned over the past few years, not all PED users are the created equally.

Free agent first baseman Matt Adams has signed a one-year, $3 million pact with the Nationals, the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. The contract comes with a $1 million buyout on a 2020 option, bringing the total value to $4 million. Official confirmation is still pending completion of a physical.

The 30-year-old infielder will return to familiar turf in Washington after spending the first half of the 2018 season there. He was dealt to the Cardinals in late August for cash considerations and finished the season batting a collective .239/.309/.477 with a career-high 21 home runs, .786 OPS and 0.8 fWAR through 337 plate appearances for the two National League clubs.

Despite his impressive display of power, Adams experienced a significant decline at the plate over the second half of the season, batting well under the Mendoza Line as the Cardinals pushed for a postseason berth against the division-winning Brewers and Wild Card-contending Cubs. Still, he saw enough early success in Washington to merit a second look and should provide a sturdy backup to Ryan Zimmerman at first base in 2019.