Carlos Pena is one of quite a few former prospects in the Texas Rangers organization that went on to have nice careers elsewhere.
The names are plentiful: Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Davis and most notably, perhaps, Sammy Sosa.
Pena is one of those guys, too, to a lesser extent than Gonzalez or Sosa, but he's still had a solid career as a power-hitting first baseman with a good glove. Now, of course, his career is basically over as he was let go in spring training and signed a minor-league deal with the Rangers last week before being called up on Tuesday when the Rangers designated Brad Snyder for assignment.
Pena is 36 and has hit 285 homers in his career and won a gold glove. He's always been an all-or-nothing guy — strikeout, homer or walk. He played 22 games as a rookie with the Rangers in September 2001 and hit four doubles, a triple and three homers in that time before being traded to Oakland, and later Detroit, the following season.
Now, he's back in the Rangers lineup, as he started Tuesday night's game against Detroit and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts while hitting sixth in the Rangers' lineup. In Round Rock, Pena hit .333 over the course of a week before his call-up.
Don't expect much from Pena, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are definitely desperate times.
