When the Astros fired Tal Smith last week after 35 years in the organization the longtime team president was upset with how the situation unfolded, saying he learned the news through the media and hadn’t spoken to new owner Jim Crane in months.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com has a few more details about Smith’s firing, including the fact that the 78-year-old “will receive only two weeks’ severance pay from the club ... because the Astros’ previous owner, Drayton McLane, did not arrange a more enticing golden parachute.”
Rosenthal reports that Smith’s contract actually expired on October 31, but he continued working as an at-will employee until being fired six days after the ownership transfer became official. Meanwhile, general manager Ed Wade was let go with two guaranteed seasons remaining on his contract.
