At least it’s easy to understand Roger Clemens’ motivation, which is directly related to why so many people find it so easy to dislike him.

It’s not about winning or being a good teammate or anything other than feeding an ego that would make Donald Trump blush.

Clemens is the highest-paid pitcher in baseball again, the fifth time in his stellar career that he has held that distinction. That’s important to him, because he’s the one who asked for $22 million for one more year and accepted Houston’s offer of $18 million — a half million more than the previous record salary paid to Pedro Martinez.

I don’t get it. If I were Roger Clemens, I’d offer to pay for the opportunity to put myself so high on the all-time lists that no one will ever catch me. Getting paid to go out at the age of 43 and further distance myself from all present and future pursuers would be a bonus.

After earning nearly $100 million over my career, it wouldn’t be about money anymore. I would have been delighted with the princely $13.5 million the Astros offered. It would allow me to get in one more year and win at least 15 games to climb past Tim Keefe on the all-time wins list. That would put me in eighth place all time with 343. That would leave Greg Maddux, who has 305 wins and who turns 39 in April, as the only active pitcher with a chance to catch me.

Baseball      Circling the Bases: News, analysis and rumors Blyleven: Pitching to be had, beyond Halladay Blyleven: Yanks are great, but no dynasty yet Nothing harder than hitting baseball  |  Vote Slideshows:   Game action  |    Celebrities Player news  |  Team transactions

And if Maddux doesn’t do it, it’s likely no one will. Few pitchers win 20 games a year, and 25-win seasons are on the endangered species list. Winning 300 is a monumental achievement; getting to 340 is nearly unthinkable for the new generation of pitchers.

So if Clemens reaches that level and Maddux doesn’t catch him, he’ll become something of the new Cy Young. He’s already won more games than any righty since the 1930s. It’s possible and maybe even likely that 100 years from now, people will look at his record and marvel at how anyone could win so many games.

One thing no one will care about in 2105, though, is how much Clemens made. By then, when hydrogen-powered automobiles cost a million a piece and a single-family home starts at $5 million or $10 million, his piddling $18 million will look as absurd as the $85,000 that Babe Ruth made way back when looks now.

What they will care about is how many games he won. And by asking for a king’s ransom and settling for a crown prince’s, Clemens is making it harder on himself to win.

The Astros haven’t had the best offseason. They lost Carlos Beltran to free agency — for less money per year than Clemens will get, by the way. Jeff Kent departed the same way. Lance Berkman is out until at least May with a wrecked knee. That’s a lot of offense that’s left with nothing to replace it.

If I were Clemens, I’d give the money back and tell my team to get me some help, because the only reason to play now is for the records. It’s not to win a championship; Houston had its shot last year, lost three of the key guys who got it there, and still has St. Louis sitting on top of the division.

The team’s thinking is pretty clear: With no title hopes to sell, they’ll sell Clemens’ last lap through the league — provided he doesn’t decide to come back in 2006 for $30 million. And they’ll hope he can sell enough tickets to help offset the colossal salary they’re paying him.

Last year, Clemens made just $5 million and tacked on nearly $2 million more in incentives, mostly based on team attendance. But it’s an enormous jump from $7 million to $18 million. He’d have to draw an extra 20,000 fans at $50 a fan to each of the 17 or 18 starts he’ll make at home to return his salary to the team. I don’t think even the Rocket has that kind of drawing power.

But he’s more interested in purchasing power than drawing power. Or, more accurately, bragging rights in a very small fraternity. No matter how many one-run games he loses, he can always say he’s making more than Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez and Maddux and every other pitcher in the game. In case visitors to his home don’t get the significance of the seven Cy Young Awards and one MVP plaque tacked to the wall, he can reaffirm his importance by pointing out no one’s ever been paid more for working about 34 days a year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he frames his contract, just so people can read the numbers for themselves.

He’s a great pitcher. There’s no question about that. He competes hard and never gives in. No one can deny that.

But he pulls stunts like this and continues to make himself impossible to like. The debate once was which team’s hat he’d want on his Hall of Fame plaque. Now, it ought to be whether any team wants its hat on a head that swollen.

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

Pujols a lock for NL MVP, no question CTB: Mauer had truly historic season CTB: Twins hope to re-sign Mauer by Christmas   CTB: Angels back in the Halladay chase CTB: White Sox GM shouldn’t call out Jenks in public CTB: Should Tigers shop Cabrera? CTB: Mets keeping an eye on Sheets DeMarco: Red Sox should take measured approach   CTB: Cashman says Yanks will talk to his players first No horror film: Yankees like this Series movie Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: