By Kevin Connelly, USA TODAY
There's a new free agent on the market and his resume is pretty impressive:
.312 batting average, 555 home runs and 1,831 RBI.
After signing a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics in February, Manny Ramirez was granted a release from the franchise Friday.
In 17 games with Triple-A Sacramento, Ramirez hit .302 with 14 RBI.
At age 40, the 12-time All Star feels he is MLB-ready again and hopes another team will give him a shot.
"Manny believes he has demonstrated that he is ready to return to the major leagues," Ramirez's agents, Barry Praver and Scott Shapiro, said in a statement. "However, given that the Oakland Athletics could not give Manny any assurance that they plan to promote him in the immediate future he asked for his release. Manny thanks the A's for providing him with this opportunity."
Ramirez retired last season rather than serve a 100-game suspension for failing a second drug test. Commissioner Bud Selig cut the suspension in half after Ramirez sat out the balance of the season.
Ramirez signed a minor league deal with Oakland on Feb. 20 and the ban ended May 30, but he remained in the minors.
The always-entertaining Ramirez was expected to make approximately $500,000 if he was called up to Oakland's big league roster.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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