When David Carpenter found out he was traded, he knew his path to the Bigs got shorter:
"From what some of the guys I spent time with at the end of the season and in the Fall League said, the Astros are a little bit shorthanded in those setup and closer areas. To see that and know that I'm progressing at a fairly good rate right now, pitching in the big leagues is definitely more real than ever. Seeing that goal being very, very reachable makes me want to work even harder and get a chance to get up to Houston as soon as I can."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
