photo: Francisco Peña (Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports Images)
Like father, like son. The offspring of former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Tony Peña, Francisco Peña, agreed to terms on a minor-league contract with the club on Wednesday, as reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Peña, 28, spent the past two seasons in the Orioles’ system after two strong years at Triple-A for Kansas City. In 2015 at Omaha, he was a teammate of Cardinals first baseman-outfielder Jose Martinez. During his time with Baltimore, Peña played in 19 big-league games, performing well as the third catcher. However, with no minor league options remaining, he was outrighted in June. Though Peña cleared waivers, he exercised his right to minor league free agency following the season.
In 51 games with Triple-A Norfolk in 2017, the right-handed hitter slashed .278/.309/.450/.759 with six home runs and 18 RBI. One would expect Peña to take over the role Alberto Rosario played the last two years – the third catcher in waiting at Memphis. Though just as Rosario took a back seat to Carson Kelly’s development, Peña will likely be required to do the same with prospect Andrew Knizner on the 2018 Redbirds.
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