OAKLAND (AP/CBS13) – Manny Ramirez is a free agent again after he asked the Oakland Athletics to release him and the team granted his request.

Ramirez signed a minor league deal with Oakland on Feb. 20 and hit .302 with 14 RBIs in 17 games with Triple-A Sacramento. He served a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy last year, but remained in the minors when the ban ended on May 30.

Ramirez was expected to make approximately $500,000 if he was added to Oakland’s big league roster.

Ramirez ranks 14th on the career list with 555 home runs. He went 1 for 17 (.059) in five games last season for Tampa Bay, which had signed him to a one-year deal worth $2.02 million.

Oakland announced Ramirez’s release on Friday.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.)