Alyson Footer tweeted a whole lot during Astroline on KTRH. But here are the money quotes from Easy Eddie:
On Tejada:
The inspiration he brings to a clubhouse is unsurpassed.We'd love to have him back and he loves it here and would like to be back. The reality he's coming off $13 million as a shortstop
On a starting pitcher (after noting that Roy really should go back to winning 15-17 games):
If there are opportunities out there to do something that makes sense on the FA and trade markets we'll certainly try to pursue that. But I don't want to raise expectations. I don't know we'll have significant dollars available to pursue significant starting pitching.
Interesting note that Paulino stayed in Houston to work with trainer Doc Colemean, and has dropped 10-15 pounds:
Once he gets a command of his pitches, he's very special. He just needs command.
What happens if LaHawk and Valverde leave?
There are some other guys out there who we have our eyes on. Fernando Rodney is a free agent. Soriano and Gonzalez are available. Kevin Gregg is out on the market. There are closers out there, alternatives. We'd rather have Jose back.
On the catching situation:
We're going to Spring Training with Quintero and Towles on the roster. We've talked about Jason Castro, we're going to give all these guys an open shot at this thing. Hopefully either Towles or Castro will step up and team up with Q. I prefer to give the job to Castro or Towles or Q and sort it out from there.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
