On Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal caught up with free agent veteran Jermaine Dye to talk about his current status. Dye, of course, sat out the entire 2010 season after he couldn't find a contract to his liking, and it seems he's now prepared to sit out every season from now until forever as well. Quote:
Jermaine Dye Almost Officially Retired Now
“I will continue to stay in shape and hopefully someone will call. If nothing gets done by the end of the spring, I may call it a career.”
Dye received offers a year ago, but he didn’t think they were good enough. And he’s received offers again this offseason, but only of the minor league variety, and Dye’s holding out for a Major League contract. A Major League contract he’s highly unlikely to get.
And so it looks like the end of the road. For Dye's part, he's frustrated that he can't drum up much interest while guys like Ben Sheets, Chris Young, and Brandon Webb land good money, but what Dye fails to understand is that he doesn't offer nearly the upside of an injury-prone starting pitcher. Someone like Webb comes with a moderate risk but a high reward. Dye's a little less risky, perhaps, but the potential reward is far lower as well, which makes him the less appealing gamble.
If this is it for Dye, he'll head into actual, formal retirement having amassed 325 career home runs and 1,072 career RBI, which isn't too bad, all things considered. As an additional and curious fun fact, both the 37-year-old Dye and the 34-year-old Andruw Jones debuted with the 1996 Atlanta Braves. Their career numbers?
Dye: .338 OBP, .488 SLG
Jones: .338 OBP, .488 SLG
Despite the offensive equivalency, Dye has earned about $75 million over the course of his career, while Jones has earned more than $103 million. Defense: it puts food on the table. Pricier food, anyway.
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