Rangers sign OF Carlos Gomez to minor league contract

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) The Texas Rangers signed outfielder Carlos Gomez to a minor league contract Saturday and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock.

General manager Jon Daniels said Gomez, who was released by the Houston Astros on Friday, will be in the lineup Sunday for the Round Rock Express.

Daniels said the Rangers hope to get the two-time All-Star on the major league roster ''sooner (rather) than later.''

Gomez hit .210 with five home runs and 29 RBIs in 85 games with Houston. The Astros got him late last summer from Milwaukee.

Gomez won a Gold Glove as a center fielder for the Brewers in 2013, but Daniels said the Rangers would use him as a corner outfielder. Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers' right fielder for most of this season, is out with a fractured left arm.

''(Gomez) is 30 years old, still in his physical prime,'' Daniels said. ''Sometimes things just don't work out the way acquiring clubs intend, and obviously we're taking a chance on him, thinking he's better than his most recent performance in Houston.''

Gomez has hit .256 with 108 homers with the Mets, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Houston.