The Texas Rangers announced Friday that the club has signed free agent infielder Cliff Pennington to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock. Pennington is expected to join the Express on Saturday.
Pennington, 33 opened the season with the Cincinnati Reds and was 4-for-29 in 16 games before being assigned outright to Triple-A Louisville on April 28. He batted .267 (8-30) with one RBI in 11 games for the Bats before being granted his free agency on May 17.
The switch-hitter has a career major league average of .242 with 36 homers and 242 RBI in 971 games with Oakland (2008-12), Arizona (2013-15), Toronto (2015), Los Angeles Angels (2016-17), and Cincinnati (2018). He has seen extensive action at 2B, SS, and 3B in his career. Pennington posted career highs with 8 homers and 58 RBI for the A's in 2011.
Pennington was a first round pick by Oakland in 2005 after starring at Texas A&M University. He is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas.