The Oakland Athletics have officially put a date on the return of veteran slugger Manny Ramirez. The A’s have announced that Ramirez will make his debut with Oakland on May 30, the day he is eligible to be reinstated following his 50-game performance-enhancing drug ban. Ramirez is slated to join the A’s Triple-A affiliate this Sunday to begin in minor league rehab stint before debuting for Oakland at the end of the month.
A’s general manager Billy Beane said this weekend that he was planning on starting Manny off “at the highest level” possible. This statement indicated that Oakland would send Ramirez to Triple-A to begin his rehab stint. Beane said that he was hoping Ramirez would be able to pick up where he left off this spring which would allow Manny to hit the ground running once he joined the A’s.
With a time of arrival now set, all eyes will be on Manny to see how he performs during his time in the minors and then as he makes his debut for the A’s. Oakland has said that they are going to use Ramirez as their designated hitter.
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