Baseball America did some checking and got the total bonus expenditures for the 2007-11 drafts, and found that the Astros spent $25,162,630 on their picks over those five drafts, 21st in MLB and about $6m less than average.
This of course includes the disastrous 2007 draft, in which the Astros spent a total of $65.13.
Here we find that the Astros spent $5,545,800 on the 2011 draft, or about $1.15m less than the average team (the average being buoyed by the Pirates spending $17m+ and the Nationals spending $15m+.
So get that checkbook ready, Jim Crane. You'll be paying more for that #1 pick in 2012 than Drayton did for the whole 2011 draft.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith