Cardinals' Francisco Pena: Loses out on backup job

Pena lost the backup catcher job battle to Matt Wieters and can now either accept an assignment to Triple-A Memphis or sign with another team, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Pena has an opt-out clause in his contract that allows him to be granted a release in order to sign with another team as Grapefruit League play concludes. Pena had a solid spring at the plate, hitting .278 with a double and three RBI over 18 at-bats. The 29-year-old backstop's agent will now survey the landscape over the coming days to see if there is interest from another big-league club in Pena.