Over the weekend, Roger Clemens agreed to a one-year, $28 million deal with the injury-riddled Yankees, who in a weak moment unloaded a boatload of cash in their efforts to stick in the American League East race. His salary will be pro-rated based on his major league time with New York, which should amount to nearly $20 million. Most of us work most of a lifetime to make what the future Hall of Famer will earn for each 2007 start.

Clemens doesn’t need the money, though it probably was a strong incentive to bypass retirement and his hometown Houston Astros. It’s more likely he craves pitching in the limelight, working big games in the heat of the pennant race and playing October baseball.

The first-place Red Sox weren’t likely to fork up that kind of cash, so Clemens must believe the Yankees have the next-best shot of reaching the postseason. That isn’t a given, of course. Keep in mind that the Astros have been in a World Series more recently than the Yankees.

Will signing the 44-year-old right-hander make a difference for the Yankees?

One side of the argument is that the Yankees will outscore all major league teams in 2007, as they did last season. Their pitching doesn’t have to be perfect. If they can stay close to the front-running Red Sox, they will be ready to get back into the fray with Mike Mussina coming off the disabled list and Clemens joining the rotation by early June. Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mussina and Clemens are a formidable foursome that should give the club a chance to get it done in the second half. Top prospect Philip Hughes, one of a number of injured starters, could be a force down the stretch, as well.

Or one could argue that Clemens won’t make enough of a difference on a team that already has called on its bullpen too much. The New York pen, which has logged more innings than any other in the majors, isn’t a key strength. Old-timer Mike Myers and youngster Brian Bruney have been solid, but the veteran anchors of the relief corps -- Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth and Luis Vizcaino -- haven’t been getting the job done consistently. There’s time to turn things around, as long as they aren’t overworked in the process.

Clemens won’t be the savior. He will be on the mound for only 20 percent of New York’s games, and he won’t be putting his team on his back for nine innings. He was a six-inning pitcher for the Astros in 2006. He worked seven innings only five times in 19 starts and never recorded an out in the eighth. Although Clemens turned in a quality start in 12 of the 13 times he worked six innings, the Astros needed a dependable bullpen to nail down a victory on the days he pitched. The same will be true for the Yankees.

It’s dangerous to doubt the potential impact of a guy as driven as Clemens, even if he is turning 45 in August. Perhaps he and the Yankees have the fire to get it done. Or maybe that’s too much to expect. No matter how the Yankees finish, having Clemens in the Bronx will be an interesting story. And no one can say that owner George Steinbrenner didn’t put up the money to give the Yankees a chance.