Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Texas Rangers signed first baseman Carlos Pena to a minor league contract Tuesday.

The 36-year-old veteran was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock and is expected to be active by at least Wednesday.

Pena spent this past spring with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after signing a minor league deal in January. He batted .139 with no homers and two RBI in 20 spring games with the Angels before he was released on March 23.

He played in 89 games combined last season with the Astros and Royals, finishing with a .207 average, eight homers and 25 RBI.

Pena returns to the club that originally selected him in the first round (10th overall) of the 1998 draft. He made his major league debut with the team in 2001.

A 2009 All-Star with Tampa Bay, Pena has a career .233 average with 285 home runs and 816 RBI. He had his greatest success for the Rays from 2007-10, winning a Gold Glove in 2008 and Silver Slugger in 2007.

Pena has six different seasons of at least 25 home runs, including a career- high 46 with Tampa Bay in 2007. He has also played for Oakland, Detroit, Boston and the Chicago Cubs, in addition to his stops in Texas, Tampa Bay Houston and Kansas City.