The Cincinnati Reds have signed 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Brian Barton to a minor league deal. Barton did not play last season. He last played in the majors in 2009 with the Braves. Barton has played in 83 games over two years in the majors and he is 41 of 153 (.268 avg, .746 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Barton will get a shot next spring to win a job on the Reds’ bench.

The Reds have re-signed 36-year old righty swinging infielder Miguel Cairo to a 2-year, $2 million dollar deal. Cairo played in 91 games for the Reds last season and he was 58 of 200 (.290 avg, .763 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 4 homers, 28 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,318 games in his first 15 years in the majors and he is 951 of 3,561 (.267 avg, .678 OPS) with 462 runs scored, 32 homers, 348 RBIs and 132 stolen bases. This was a good move for the Reds as Cairo was a very important part of the bench for the Reds in 2010 because of both his bat and his versatility in the field.

35-year old righty swinging 3B Scott Rolen finished 14th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award. Rolen played in 133 games for the Reds last season and he was 134 of 471 (.285 avg, .854 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 20 homers and 83 RBIs. Rolen has now played in 1,881 games in his 15 years in the majors and he is 1,944 of 6,852 (.284 avg, .867 OPS) with 1,154 runs scored, 303 homers, 1,212 RBIs and 115 stolen bases. Rolen proved that he still has something left in the gas tank last season and the Reds hope he has a couple of more years like that in him.

27-year old lefty swinging 1B Joey Votto has won the N.L. MVP Award. Votto earned the award by playing in 150 games in which he was 177 of 547 (.324 avg, 1.024 OPS) with 106 runs scored, 37 homers, 113 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. He has now played in 456 games in his first four years with the Reds and he is 511 of 1,626 (.314 avg, .958 OPS) with 268 runs scored, 90 homers, 298 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. As long as Votto can stay healthy and focused their is no reason to think he can’t win more MVP Awards because he’s that talented.