Pena agreed to a minor-league deal with the Royals on Tuesday, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports.

EDGE Analysis

Pena's deal includes an invite to major-league spring training, where he'll presumably compete with Drew Butera for backup catching duties behind primary backstop Salvador Perez. Butera's presence on the 40-man roster confers him an advantage over Pena, but the 35-year-old does at least have familiarity working in his favor after previously spending parts of four seasons in the Royals organization. The switch-hitting Pena was appeared in nine games at the big-league level for the Cardinals in 2016, going 2-of-13 at the dish.