Athletics release Manny Ramirez

The Oakland Athletics have released veteran outfielder Manny Ramirez after he requested to be cut, according to the team's Twitter account

Ramirez was signed this offseason in an attempt to boost Oakland's offense, which looked rather weak coming into the year. In 17 games for AAA Sacramento, Ramirez didn't look like the same player he had been for most of his career, OPSing just .697 without a homer. The 40 year-old served a 50 game suspension to start the year after abruptly retiring in 2011 after testing positive for a banned substance and earning a 100 game suspension.

Despite a few injuries, the A's actually have seemed pretty solid at the DH position this year, with Seth Smith, Jonny Gomes, and Kila Ka'aihue earning most of the playing time at the position. Ka'aihue was designated for assignment last week, leaving the job to Smith and Gomes, who have both been effective (albeit not earth-shattering) at the position.

The release of Ramirez comes the same week that Vladimir Guerrero was released by the Blue Jays. I doubt any team will pick either player up, and it looks like the end of a pair of careers.

Photo courtesy of Daylife.com

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.

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