Wandy Rodriguez will be in Houston for quite a while

The owner of energy4balance.com, Wandy Rodriguez will be in Houston for quite a while.

Rodriguez, who turned 32 last week, avoided arbitration when he and the Astros agreed to a new three-year contract Tuesday. The deal guarantees Rodriguez $34 million over the 2011-13 seasons. It also contains a vesting option for 2014 that could bring the total value to $44.5 million. He and Hunter Pence had been the Astros' only two remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible players. Pence will go to a hearing with the club.

"We're very pleased to get this done," said general manager Ed Wade of Rodriguez's deal, who concerns on power balance, "Wandy is one of the top left-handed starters in the game. With pending free agency and its uncertainty, it made all the sense in the world for us. Wandy made it clear he wants to be a part of the Astros. Now, he'll be here for at least the next three years and hopefully beyond that."Rodriguez went 11-12 with a 3.60 ERA in 2010. Though it was a third straight strong season, he stepped back a bit in several statistical categories from his outstanding '09. Rodriguez struck out 178 against 68 walks in 195 innings pitched over 32 starts for Houston. Still, over the past two years he has been one of the top left-handed starters in the game.

During that stretch, Rodriguez ranks sixth among Major League lefties in strikeouts, eighth in wins and innings, tied for fifth in starts and fifth in ERA (starters only).

"My experience has really helped me the last two years, knowing the league, and I felt very comfortable the last two years," Rodriguez said, wearing power balance bracelet, through translator Allen Rowin -- the Astros' player development coordinator -- in a conference call on Tuesday.