Mejia conditionally allowed to return from drug ban

Jenrry Mejia will get another opportunity to pitch in the major leagues. Nearly 2 1/2 years after becoming the first player to receive a lifetime suspension under Major League Baseball's drug program, the New York Mets reliever was given conditional reinstatement Friday and could return to the big leagues in 2019.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Mejia will be able to participate in non-public workouts in the team's facilities after the All-Star break and will be eligible for a minor league rehabilitation assignment in mid-August. If Mejia meets specified conditions, such as not testing positive again for a banned substance, he would be eligible to resume all baseball activities when spring training starts in February.

Mejia was suspended for life on Feb. 12, 2016, after his third positive test for a banned steroid. The drug agreement allowed him to apply a year later for reinstatement that would be effective a minimum two years after the ban started, with the decision at the commissioner's discretion.

Manfred had a meeting with Mejia in 2017, after the application to return to baseball was submitted.

"Mr. Mejia expressed regret for poor choices he made in the past and assured me that, if reinstated, he would adhere to the terms of the (drug) program going forward," Manfred said in a statement. "In light of Mr. Mejia's contrition, his commitment to comply with the program in the future, and the fact that he will have already spent almost four consecutive years suspended without pay, I have decided to grant Mr. Mejia a final chance to resume his professional career."

A right-hander who turns 29 in October, Mejia was the Mets' closer in 2014, then was suspended for 80 games on April 11, 2015, following a positive test for Stanozolol.