The Astros have announced a press conference for tomorrow morning in Kissimee. We know two things. It's gonna be HUGE. And it's NOT Pudge.

And it's NOT Pedro Martínez either, like an article on Baseball Prospectus says. That's what Ed Wade told Alyson Footer minutes ago. Alyson said in her blog, "This is absurd. This is actually one step beyond absurd but it's too late in the evening and I'm too tired to think of what that word is".

"We have had zero conversations with Pedro. I have absolutely no idea where that is coming from.", Wade told Alyson.

So let's wait

Who would've thunk it? We were discussing last night how hard it was to get an idea regarding the catching position for th 2009 Houston Astros. On one hand, we had Humberto Quintero. You know very well how I highly regard Q, and not just because he's Venezuelan like yours truly, but because he has worked very hard to stay at the point he is right now. On the other, there's J.R. Towles, the rookie who couldn't rise to the occasion last year. So we weren't quite sure what we would get.

Today we learn that the Astros are on the way of signing none other than future Hall-of-Famer Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. It will all depend on a physical after his performance on the World Baseball Classic ends (And I would LOVE to see him leave the WBC tonight. But that's another story...)

Rodriguez's career is too long and diverse so I won't abuse this blogging format by giving you full details about it. If this ends happily for the Astros, they would have solved a compromising situation, and what's best about it is that they didn't have to concede to spending temptations (Pudge's agent is none other than Scott Boras. You get the picture).

A veteran, reliable and highly regarded catcher, and at an irresistible price: Pudge's price tag, according to several sources including our own Alyson Footer, would be on the $1.5 million range, with yet another 1.5 million in bonuses. Now that's a bargain.

Blame it on the recession, and maybe because this was the only team which could offer him a full-time starting gig throughout the whole season. Would this be the start of a severe correction regarding baseball salaries? Who knows. What's most interesting for us is that the Astros handled this situation in the best way possible by resisting and being cost-conscious.

And that's something I'm glad to say.

Welcome once again to a new season with your Houston Astros. As always, we'll try to give you information and notes in a different way. There's one thing which I'm really glad about, and is that I won't be holding the fort all by myself this time: Besides good friends such as Thomas, Bernardo and other bloggers, we are joined by people who are known by all of you: Alyson Footer, someone who really knows her Astros, and the voice of the Houston Astros in Spanish himself, my good friend Francisco Romero.

So there'll be a little bit something for everyone this time around.

We saw Roy Oswalt last night in a game which became so painful for us, in which Venezuela was mercilessly pounded by the US offense. Roy O proved himself why he is one of the premiere starters in baseball, and that's what matters most. He won't return to Kissimmee just yet; in the meantime Carlos Lee is taking the plane back to Florida after his team Panama's elimination from the World Baseball Classic.

This is been a Spring Training quite interesting to see. And a hard one as well. We know there isn't anything more worthless than Grapefruit League scores, but it's true that it would be so much nicer to see a win every now and then at Osceola County Stadium.

I'm sure Cecil Cooper will try to energize the troops back again to see if bats start swinging the right way and things change a bit. But we know that's not the main goal.

It's all about breaking down performances and seeing which players will survive all cuts and stay in the 40-man roster. It's time to see if prospects (which there are plenty to see) can stay or they could be well-kept in the Minors for a September callup. That's a positive effect of Tejada, Lee and Oswalt being absent for the WBC if you ask me.

Are there reasons to panic yet? Not quite. Most especially if your main players are somewhere else. But it's true that, despite we know that is not what it's all about, a win every now and then would make this spring a bit more joyful.