Manny Ramirez is a free agent after the Oakland Athletics agreed to the slugger's request to release him.

The A's announced before Friday night's game against the Padres, they had granted Ramirez his outright release. Ramirez signed for Oakland in February on a minor league contract.

The 40-year-old, who served a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, hit .302 with 14 RBIs in 17 games for Triple-A Sacramento.

"The A's treated me amazingly during all this time, but sadly didn't have space for me and this is something I can't control," Ramirez told ESPNDeportes.com.

"I'm going home to continue my training hoping to get the chance to play again. I'll be waiting for that call and if God believes (playing) is the best for me, then it'll happen. If not, I'll understand.

"It was an amazing experience. I was given tremendous treatment by Oakland's major league and Triple-A staff. I'll always have them in my heart. I was ready to play, but Oakland didn't have a space in its roster. I understand."

Ramirez, who has a career average of .312 over 19 seasons with 555 home runs and 1,831 RBIs, started playing with Triple-A Sacramento in May, but struggled with injuries and did not show enough to the organization that he could step up into the major leagues, despite the A's suggesting he would be called up as soon as his suspension ended on May 31.

Ramirez's agents Barry Praver and Scott Shapiro said in a statement: "Manny believes he has demonstrated that he is ready to return to the major leagues. 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."