We interrupt this unofficial break to inform you that, according to Hardball Talk (via the Examiner), Feb 18 is the date for Tal Smith to get his argue on in the Case Against Hunter Pence.

Richard Justice has a really good post about Hunter Pence’s development, and whether he will ever be an elite player:
He’ll turn 28 shortly after Opening Day, and there’s not a single number that indicates he’s even close to being a special player. Solid player? Yes. Contributor to a winning team? Absolutely. Star? No.
Well done, Justice, well done.

There are going to be people who go to every single Astros game, no matter what. There are others who will buy the mini-packages, and the packages that include games against the Rangers, inter-league series, and other higher-profile games.
Lower-level dugout box seats at Minute Maid Park are $53. The most expensive ticket is in the 2nd-level Club I section, at $55. The average ticket price (not including Dynamic Pricing) …

The Astros agreed to one-year deals with four players yesterday:
Jimmy Paredes: $414,000Brian Bogusevic: $416,500Enerio Del Rosario: $417,000Wilton Lopez: $442,000

The Caller-Times’ Joel Roza (a buddy of Astros County) has a new article up on Jordan Lyles, and it’s well-worth your time, given Roza’s proximity to Lyles through much of 2010.
Your money quote:Lyles typically reached the 80 pitch mark by late in the 4th or early in the 5th inning, depending on how many hits he’d given up. While these concerns are all fixable (much like Castro’s throwing to second …

The Fort Worth Star Telegram has an article about how, surprise! people who came to the Rangers Caravan dates are…wait for it, Rangers fans!
One Palmeiro jersey-sporting fan in Selma:“I’ve been a huge Rangers fan, but the Rangers never came down here. I told those guys they’ve got to start coming down here more often. The Houston Astros have always controlled this area, but there are lots of Rangers fans down …

Continuing Keith Law Day, he posted his (Insider-Only, natch) Astros top ten prospects:
1. Jordan Lyles, RHP 2. Delino DeShields, Jr., CF3. Ariel Ovando, OF4. Austin Wates, OF5. Tanner Bushue, RHP6. Jiovanni Mier, SS7. Telvin Nash, LF8. Jonathan Villar, SS9. Vincent Velasquez, RHP10. J.D. Martinez, RHP
Interesting…

Keith Law’s been a busybody. And he has a new article up (Insider-Only, of course) identifying a sleeper prospect from each organization who could end up on the 2012 Top 100. The Astros’ prospect is Ariel Ovando:
Outfielder Ariel Ovando has — to use the technical term — some “big whack” at the plate, a loose frame with room to add and already some feel for hitting.

Profile season is underway, and McTaggart caught up with Jason Castro, as he prepares for the 2011 season with his name penciled in as C1 (until J.R. Towles does his yearly Babe Ruth impression until March 31):
“I’ve put a lot of work in and ironed out some things mechanically. I’m in a place right now that I feel really comfortable. That’s the best part is feeling comfortable up there, and …

Sure, it’s an exhibition game that means absolutely nothing. But the people who show up, and I would bet that an exhibition game against the Red Sox in March will be better attended than a regular season game in September, would be spending real money. So when MLB decided to schedule regular season games throughout March 31, the Astros and Red Sox were forced to cancel the March 31 exhibition …

Brian McTaggart has your payroll estimate for 2011. Carlos Lee will account for 23.75% of the Astros payroll. /tears up

McTaggart tells us that the Astros have agreed to terms with Chris Johnson and – yes – J.R. Towles $424,000.

Over at Big League Stew, Alex Remington was asked “How many games will the 2011 Astros win?”
Quoting Dan Szymborski:Of the players predicted to make up the Astros’ 25-man roster, Szymborski only sees four players likely to achieve production above league average: hitters Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee, and starting pitchers Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers.
So this isn’t going very well.
The Astros don’t have a single player as good as Pirate …

Alyson Footer has the breakdown of Wandy’s contract:
Signing bonus: $1.5m2011: $7m2012: $10m2013: $13m2014: $13m (vesting or club option)

Keith Law posted his (Insider-only) Organizational Rankings. Your Houston Astros are 27th:
The Astros are slowly getting better through the draft and some dabbling in Latin America, but it sure would have been nice to see them get more in return for Roy Oswalt.
Yes. Yes it would have been nice to see them get more in return for Roy. Last year the Astros ranked 28th.

So the Astros were able to trade or settle all of their arbitration-eligible players, except for Hunter Pence, who will head to a hearing next month, where a judge will determine if he gets the $6.9m he wants, or the $5.15m the Astros want to pay him.
Wade:“It doesn’t say anything about how we feel about the player. It’s the mechanism that’s in place in our game when two parties can’t …

And it’s J.P. Shadrick, formerly of the Double-A Jacksonville Suns.
This affects the approximately two of you Astros County citizens who live in Oklahoma City, but we love everybody.

Recent signee Jose Carlos Thompson has been invited to Major League Camp where, according to Zach Levine, he’ll be considered for 2B/SS jobs in the minors. Where could the 23-year old play this season?
Oklahoma City:It’s reasonable to assume that whomever doesn’t win the 2B1/2B2 or SS1/SS2 jobs (Matt Downs, Tommy Manzella, Oswaldo Navarro, Wladimir Sutil, etc) will be in Triple-A. So it’s fairly unlikely that Oklahoma City is his destination.
Corpus:Thompson …

Over at MLBTR, they have a post on the Ten Arbitration Cases to Watch this off-season, and good ol’ Wandy clocks in at #4:
Rodriguez’s $10.25MM asking price seems high until you realize how few arbitration eligible pitchers have comparable big league experience (the Astros offered $8MM). Rodriguez is just 15 innings shy of 1,000 for his career and his ERA hasn’t surpassed 3.60 in any of the past three seasons. …

The Examiner talked to Jorge Cantu and then the Astros, just as suddenly, stopped talking to Jorge Cantu.
Cantu:“We were really trying with Houston, but talks have just ceased with them, which is unfortunate.”