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.