"We'd had one of our top scouts on the [Clemens] evaluation process before we signed him, and he said he thought there was a lot left," then-Toronto general manager Gord Ash said last month. "Looking at his [1996] strikeouts-to-walks ratio [257-106], we didn't see it the way [Duquette] did.
"Now, we didn't see him winning two straight Cy Young Awards, either, but we didn't see him on a down slide."
Sammy Ellis, Clemens' pitching coach with Boston in 1996, said he "couldn't believe" the Red Sox would part with the pitcher. Ellis said he reported to Duquette that Clemens' velocity was 94 to 96 mph throughout all games and that he projected future success.
"It's been impressive to see someone pitch late into his career like Roger or Nolan Ryan -- I don't think anyone thinks Nolan Ryan was using steroids," Ellis said Monday. "These were good, hard workers who were gifted genetically, gifted with a delivery that doesn't beat up an arm, and a guy who works his . . . off. Was it because he was doing some juice? I don't think so. He weighed 240 pounds when I had him, and he weighs 240 pounds now. He's a big strong man."
In Toronto, Ash said the hiring of "aggressive personality" McNamee "pushed players to do stuff away from the field to keep them healthy, but I had no idea what was happening outside the ballpark."
Ash said Clemens' trade to the Yankees after the 1998 season was strictly part of a handshake deal the pitcher made with the Blue Jays' owner to land with a contender if Toronto was struggling.
"I didn't see any of [Clemens' steroid use alleged in the Mitchell report], and no one brought it to my attention," Ash said. "I just saw a guy with an unequaled work ethic"
Duquette won't gloat now. He remains out of the majors, working on his sports academies and an Israel baseball project.
He declined to comment when asked whether he believed Clemens was using steroids at the time of his Red Sox departure, or, if in knowing the pitcher, he was surprised by the Mitchell Report's findings.
He ended his interview saying only that past MLB drug-testing policies have complicated accurate talent evaluation of players, and "made it difficult for clubs. And executives."
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lance.pugmire@latimes.com
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Begin text of infobox
CLEMENS
1993-1996 (last four years in Boston)
10 - Average wins per year
10 - Average losses per year
186 - Average innings per year
