--SS Miguel Tejada pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to Congressional investigators looking into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. He will be sentenced on March 26, but legal experts believe he might receive probation and no jail time. However, it's unclear what impact the conviction will have on the Dominican's immigration status, and how it will affect his performance this year as he deals with the aftermath of the court case.
--RHP Bud Norris will head into camp as a non-roster invitee, but he'll get plenty of attention as he tries for a job in the bullpen or rotation. --C Humberto Quintero says he's not taking anything for granted as he heads into camp as the top candidate to win the starting job.
"All I can say is I'll work hard every day, and we'll see how it turns out," Quintero said. "My body is really strong. I'll go to spring training feeling 100 percent and try to win my job.
"I have more confidence in myself and also in my pitchers. My pitchers showed confidence in me last year, and so did my manager. That was great. They had never given me that chance."
--RHP Chris Sampson, who had right elbow surgery in October, has been cleared for the start of spring training. GM Ed Wade said he recently received a good report on Sampson's elbow from team physician Dave Lintner.
--RHP Felipe Paulino, who missed most of last year because of a pinched nerve, has been performing well enough while working out at Minute Maid Park that the club expects him to be ready to pitch in spring training.
--INF David Newhan, a journeyman non-roster invitee for the second season in a row, isn't guaranteed anything despite performing well late last year in the majors after he was called up from Class AAA Round Rock.
--Because of the World Baseball Classic, spring training is longer than usual this year, providing more scheduled days off during the Grapefruit League season. Still, with RHP Roy Oswalt, LF Carlos Lee and others on provisional rosters for their countries, there will be more innings and at-bats for younger players hoping to make an impression.
--Owner Drayton McLane stopped GM Ed Wade from spending the money the Astros had hoped to use for the rotation, forcing Wade to pull a three-year offer from LHP Randy Wolf. There's no denying the rotation isn't very strong. The team also had to let arbitration-eligible 3B Ty Wigginton go. Wolf and Wigginton were two of the top reasons the club had such a great second half last year.
BY THE NUMBERS: 4 -- Catchers heading to camp with legitimate shots of earning spots on the 25-man roster.
QUOTE OF NOTE: "We're, knock on wood, comfortable or confident right now that coming into spring training everybody is going to be healthy and be ready to go full force. Carlos (Lee) has gotten a clean bill of health regarding his finger. Any other issues that we had, (Kaz) Matsui or whatever, we haven't heard anything that would lead us to believe that we're going to be rehabbing guys throughout the spring." -- General manager Ed Wade.
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