Royals' Brayan Pena: Signs minor league deal with Kansas City

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

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 appeared in nine games at the big-league level for the Cardinals in 2016, going 2-of-13 at the dish.