In order for Manny to be Manny again, he had to be reinstated by Major League Baseball. He's reportedly taken a step closer to getting back on the diamond.
Manny Ramirez has been officially reinstated by MLB from the voluntary retirement list, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted on Saturday.
The reinstatement allows Ramirez to sign with a team, but that team must be willing to wait for Ramirez's services. The 39-year-old slugger must serve a 50-game suspension (downgraded from the original 100-game suspension) for a second positive test in violation of MLB's substance-abuse policy.
Ramirez chose to retire last April after five games with the Rays rather than serve his suspension. He has 555 home runs, 1,831 runs batted in and a .312 career batting average.
