Mar 19, 2006 5:10 PM EST

Roger Clemens's agent met with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein the day after Team USA was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic. Was this the next step in the Sox' determined attempt to lure the Rocket back to Boston, an effort that included a Tom Werner-produced video and a stealth flight to Houston last month by ownership and Epstein to visit with the seven-time Cy Young Award winner?

Epstein insisted yesterday that was not the case.

''It was a routine spring training visit," the GM wrote in an e-mail when asked about his Friday meeting with Alan Hendricks, who along with his brother, Randy, has represented Clemens throughout his storied career.

Via Boston Globe