The Braves have signed 25-year old righty swinging 3B Shawn Bowman to a minor league deal. Bowman played in 110 games in A+AA-ball last season and he was 114 of 424 (.269 avg, .826 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 22 homers and 70 RBIs. Bowman has now played in 549 games in his first 8 years in the minors and he is 515 of 2,013 (.256 avg, .745 OPS) with 276 runs scored, 74 homers, 283 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. The Braves will likely stash Bowman in the minors in 2011.

The Braves have signed 26-year old switch hitting C/2B/3B/OF Wilkin Castillo to a minor league deal. Castillo played in 92 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 81 of 317 (.256 avg, .697 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 9 homers, 35 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has also played in 22 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 11 of 35 (.314 avg, .676 OPS) with 6 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Castillo will get a chance to win a job on the bench for the Braves next spring.

The Braves have inked 25-year old righty reliever Jay Sborz to a minor league deal. Sborz made his major league debut (his only major league game) last season for the Tigers and it didn’t go too well. Sborz pitched 2/3 on an inning and he allowed 3 hits, hit two batters and he whiffed 1 while allowing 5 earned runs. Sborz also pitched in 43 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 1-6 with 19 saves, a 4.74 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Sborz will get a shot to win a job in the Braves’ bullpen next spring but he’s a longshot to win a job.

35-year old righty starting pitcher Tim Hudson finished 4th in the N.L. in the Cy Young Award voting. Hudson started 34 games for the Braves last season and he was 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He has now pitched in 345 games (344 starts) in his 12 years in the majors and he is 165-87 with a 3.42 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Hudson’s pitching was a big reason why the Braves made the playoffs last season and they hope he will be sharp again in 2011.

25-year old lefty reliever Jonny Venters finished tied for 8th for the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award with Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata. Venters pitched in 79 games (0 starts) for the Braves last season and he was 4-4 with 1 save, a 1.95 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Venters only allowed 61 hits while whiffing 93 batters in only 83 innings which shows how nasty he was and can be. Venters did walk 39 batters last season so he does have some control issues to iron out. Venters has a outstanding upside and he could be the Braves’ closer as early as 2011.

21-year old lefty swinging RF Jason Heyward finished 2nd in the voting for the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting behind only catcher Buster Posey of the Giants. Heyward played in 142 games for the Braves last season and he was 144 of 520 (.277 avg, .849 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 18 homers, 72 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Despite whiffing 128 times last season he still showed good plate discipline as he walked 91 times. Heyward has a huge upside and he will be competing for MVP awards down the road.

UPDATE: (12/2/2010) - Jason Heyward also finished 20th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award.

Bobby Cox finishes 4th in the voting for the N.L. Manager of the Year Award in his last season on the job. Cox led the Braves to a 91-71 (56.2%) record during the regular season but they were knocked out of the playoffs 3-1 by the Giants. Cox finished his career with a 2,504-2,001 (55.6%) in his 29 years in the majors as a manager during the regular season. He was also 67-69 (49.3%) during the post season. He did lead the Braves to a World Series Championship in 1995 and he will likely go into the Hall of Fame with a Braves’ cap on his head.

The Braves have traded 22-year old lefty swinging outfielder Cody Johnson to the Yankees for cash considerations. Johnson played in 106 games in Rookie+A+AA-ball last season and he was 73 of 344 (.212 avg, .687 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 18 homers, 60 RBIs and 12 stolen bases but he whiffed 151 times. Johnson has played in 456 games in five years in the minors and he is 392 of 1,613 (.243 avg, .796 OPS) with 230 runs scored, 94 homers, 309 RBIs and 40 stolen bases. Johnson also has whiffed 629 times in the minors. The Braves appeared to have just run out of patience with Johnson.

The Braves have acquired 30-year old righty swinging 2B Dan Uggla from the Florida Marlins for 28-year old righty swinging infielder Omar Infante and 25-year old lefty reliever Michael Dunn. Uggla played in 159 games for the Marlins last season and he was 169 of 589 (.287 avg, .877 OPS) with 100 runs scored, 33 homers, 105 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The 3-time All-Star has played in 776 games in his five years in the majors and he is 771 of 2,927 (.263 avg, .837 OPS) with 499 runs scored, 154 homers, 465 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Uggla gives the Braves a solid power bat in the middle of the batting order. He will start at 2B with Martin Prado heading out to LF.

The Braves might miss Omar Infante’s versatility but it was a small price to pay for a player of Uggla’s caliber. Infante played in 134 games for the Braves last season and he was 151 of 471 (.321 avg, .775 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 8 homers, 47 RBIs and 7 stolen bases as he made his first ever All-Star team. Infante played in 300 games in 3 years with the Braves and he was 306 of 991 (.309 avg, .763 OPS) with 134 runs scored, 13 homers, 114 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Michael Dunn pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Braves last season and he was 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. It appears to me that the Braves got Uggla for pennies on a dollar so I love this deal for them!

The Braves have re-signed 27-year old righty swinging outfielder Brent Clevlen to a minor league deal. Clevlen played in 4 games for the Braves last season and he was 1 for 4 (.250 avg, .750 OPS) with 2 runs scored. He also played in 54 games in A+AAA-ball last season and he was 52 of 195 (.267 avg, .693 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 3 homers, 29 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Clevlen has now played in 59 games in parts of 4 years in the majors and he is 18 of 77 (.234 avg, .709 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 3 homers and 7 RBIs. The Braves must think that Clevlen still has something to offer so it will be interesting to see if he can reward them in 2011.