The A's are "very interested" in slugger Manny Ramirez, according to a report on ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com.
Last year, Ramirez opted for retirement rather than serve a second penalty for violating baseball's anti-doping rules in April 2011. At the time of the violation, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The term of the penalty was a 50-game suspension. Ramirez applied for reinstatement to Major League Baseball last December, and his suspension for a second failed drug test was cut Sunday from 100 games to 50 because he sat out nearly all of the 2011 season.
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"The Orioles and Blue Jays ... liked what he saw, but Oakland has shown the most interest, even without seeing training," the source told the Web site.
The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays reportedly watched the 2004 World Series MVP take batting practice in an indoor cage last week. Ramirez will turn 40 on May 30.
Ramirez, who has 555 career home runs and a .312 average over 19 seasons. He last appeared in a major league game on April 6,2011for Tampa Bay. Ramirez was just 1 for 17 (.059) in five games for the Rays, who had signed him to a one-year deal worth 2.02 million.
The former Cleveland, Boston and L.A. Dodger was was suspended 50 games in 2009 for violating baseball's drug policy by taking a women's fertility drug that is viewed by experts as a way to restart natural testosterone production after a steroid cycle.
In September, the former All-Star was arrested in Broward County, Fla. and charged with domestic battery.