Why is Jermaine Dye still a free agent? Let's run through the reasons:
- He's 36 years old, leading some to speculate that a permanent decline set in last season. It's true that Dye was useless at the plate for the season's final two months, but we're talking about fewer than 200 plate appearances. Veteran hitters have bounced back from worse.
- He's an indisputably poor defender. In a February interiew with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Dye had yet to fully come to grips with this fact: "No doubt, I've probably slowed down a little bit (defensively), but not enough to not be getting (attractive) offers." Dye talked about his willingness to play first base or left field.
- He's been asking for too much money. Dye already turned down offers of $2MM and $3MM. Pride may be an issue. In the Rosenthal article Dye talked about how "it's not about money with me" but "there are still guys getting money that I feel I'm better than."
Solutions:
- Embrace a designated hitter/fourth outfielder/pinch-hitter role. Dye's former teammate Jim Thome gracefully accepted a reduced role and salary after a season comparable to Dye's.
- Dye needs swallow his pride, drop his price, and take a minor league deal. It's not fair, but he probably wouldn't need to spend a ton of time in the minors. Two of his former employers, the White Sox and Royals, could use a good backup plan at DH.
On August 1st, Dye was hitting .281/.357/.533 with 23 home runs in 389 plate appearances. He had an $11.5MM salary and a starting right field job. Eight months later Dye is reportedly considering retirement; that would be a shame.
It really is a shame that he doesn’t have a job at this point as Opening Day creeps closer and closer, but in the end while it may not all be his fault a lot of it is. He has to be realistic about his situation. He is a 36 yr old player coming off of a season in which he hit under .200 in its final two months, and he can’t play defense at all. He had to have seen this coming especially with the market the way it is. I really hope he can find a gig because he still has something left in the tank, and as Tim said it would be a shame for him to retire.
He should have accepted the Cubs $3MM offer when he had the chance.
Definitely, As a Cubs fan I wouldn’t have minded having him on the roster either, and I’m sure that Dye wishes he would’ve taken that deal when he had the chance.
I’d rather have Colvin, thanks. Dye’s just more of the same…old, fading former talents.
i would like to see him as a backup plan at DH for the rays. or if/when crawford is moved midseason, he can play left as it won’t matter sense the rays won’t be in a playoff hunt at that point.
Or a team that simply has a left-handed DH…I could see the Orioles as a nice fit. Same goes for the Blue Jays, A’s, or maybe a pinch hitter for the Diamondbacks.
Padres?
This is a great example of the market over-correcting. There are tons of players that will contribute less in ’10 than Jermaine Dye. I’ve been hoping that he would accept a 4th outfielder/DH role for my club. He can still swing it.
The Twins were brilliant with Thome and whomever signs Dye will not regret it.
It’s sad to see, but at this point in his life, two or three million dollars is nice for a gig where he’ll have to get off the bench 3-4 times a game, maybe just 2-3 days a week.
Marcus Thames is really struggling this Spring. Could the Yankees be a player for Jermaine Dye?
I would gladly take him.
I’ll hire Jermaine Dye.
He can easily fit into the heart of the lineup for the Pirates, but that sends Clement back to AAA. The Pirates probably won’t do that. However, in leftfield or rightfield for the Yankees. Wow, that would be a killer lineup.
As a Sox fan I have to say the guy is getting a bad rap on his defense. It was statistically poor, but I don’t recall any games in which the Sox lost because of his defense. Also, he’s always been a pretty streaky hitter and would often have extremely hot and cold months at the plate which averaged out to quite a bit of production…last year was no different.
He’ll be a bargain for whoever picks him up.
He might not have dropped fly balls or let balls scoot right by him, which would be the only ways he would explicitly lose a game for you. The point of the defensive statistic I’m assuming you are referring to (a staggering AVERAGE of -22.2 UZR/150 over the past 4 years), is that he doesn’t get to balls that competent outfielders would normally get to. In the case of balls to the outfield that dropped instead of being caught, those are outs that turned into base hits. That’s a big deal.
I’m not saying he won’t be a bargain to whatever team picks him up, but I am saying that that team should be in the American League…and his cleats should very, very rarely touch the grass in right field.
Its an absolute shame that a WS MVP cant get signed. That alone should have had him signed by now.
right field in Washington is all open for you dye
That would be the best place for him to sign. Willie Harris is expected to start if the season started today right?
Stunned that Dye has no team, but Marcus Thames is probably going to make the Yankees opening day roster.
What did he do, punch a little girl asking for an autograph or something?
Jason Giambi, who can’t do anything defensively has a job in the NL for crying out loud.
Fernando Tatis has a roster spot with the Mets over this guy?
Unbelievable.
I know his price was high, but the games start to count soon and he should be on a roster by now.
Thames was willing to accept a minor league deal though, and I’m sure the Yanks would’ve loved to sign Dye if they weren’t already pushing budget after trading for Vasquez and picking up Granderson.
Giambi has a job as a pinch hitter in the NL because he did well in that role last year and is a left handed hitter.
The only reason Tatis has a spot is because he can play third.
I do see what you’re saying though, and there are worse ways to use a roster spot than on Dye.
Someone should right an article on how bad contracts and the rise of inflating salaries have forced players to retire early. This can be taken from a post-steriod era perspective as power only threats are now viewed as less valuable than in years past.
The Giants seriously need some power in their lineup. They’re trying to decide between Schierholtz and John Bowker to play rightfield, but neither can really hit. Their lineup is very weak.
Maybe Dye is waiting for someone to get hurt. Teams need to get more desperate.
It’s disappointing to see him without a job.
His defense is terrible, but it frustrates me that some terrible defenders get huge money, and their defense gets pushed to the side and forgotten, yet they seem to have been really harsh on Dye.
Yuniesky Betancourt can get a starting job and Jermaine Dye can’t? Something is really wrong with this picture
he can play on my sister’s softball team. i think we can make room. but he’ll have to except a payment of bubblegum and lemonade.
…
There are a lot of teams this year with bad hitting outfielders. Very few home run hitters. No instant offense. I see lots of boring baseball coming up. Lets make up some new stats to show that.
Several reasons why Jermaine does not have work are in play, although he hit .250 almost 30 hrs, he hit way under .200 and looked done after the All-star break. That combined with him wanting a starting job keeps him from getting a gig. Yes, he is better then marcus Thames and other weaker bench bats mentioned, but I don’t think he would take those jobs if offered. It’s sad really, but in a way I’m happy, I’m a white Sox fan, and my son’s favorite player (only 7) is JD, loves him, has his jersey, knows his stats, tries to hit like him etc. It would have hurt for him to see him on another team, this is such a happy ending in my small family if he never plays again.
That said, I wouldnt be surprised if the Sox brought him back if the DH platoon fails as predicted for a couple mil.. worse deals could be made. This kinda reminds me of Kenny Lofton a few years ago, although older, I could never grasp how he didn’t get a job after such a good year. I guess it was pride for both of them
Let’s not feel too sorry for Dye. I’ll bet 10 teams would love to have him on a minor league contract tomorrow, but he’s not interested.
The Cubs offered him a good deal a few months ago and he turned it down.
I don’t think he’s stubborn or greedy. It seems like he just doesn’t want to play anymore.
^^^Based on what he has said and what others have touched on I don’t think that it’s a matter of him not wanting to play but a matter of him feeling that if a certain caliber of player is making a certain amount of money, a player that can probably do more than them (in this case him) deserves more money. While I understand that stance, there comes a time when people need to realize that even if they’re getting less money than lesser players, they should give in and accept it because it beats the alternative of not playing at all when you supposedly want to. I wish him luck in finding employment. At some point during the season an opportunity will hopefully come his way.
Not sure what is so hard to understand in Dye’s situation. the guy is pretty immobile in the OF and has 2 really bad knes on top of that if somebody did want to try to stick him out in RF for a prolonged period, like asking fro trouble both range and injury risk.
The days of giving out mammoth 10M range contracts for these type (Ortiz, Vlad, Dye, Matsui) seems to be history also. The latter 3 just signed for 5M or less i believe this off season and ortiz will more than likely be job hunting this coming off season, regardless of what numbers he puts up during the 2010 season. Players now must be able to at least be of some use in the field to gain a suitable salary and Dye just does not fit that mold any more. Will be interesting to see if Dunn can get much over 10M and even then, more than a couple seasons worth of an extension from Washington. he’s not much better in the field than those 4 previously mentioned and has no health problems.
Funny how since the end of the “steroid era” we are getting more normal curves of production. Once again, 36 year old hitters are old, like they were 20 years ago.
Does Dye think there is a $2 million dollar a year job waiting for him out of baseball?
I think Dye is still going to show up somewhere. So will his bat.
I find it hard to believe Dye hit a wall and can never produce again. That can’t be true. He was too good, and when he got hot, he could carry a team.
Give him a shot at 1B or DH, maybe as a platoon guy. He can still hit, and has big time experience. He just needs to accept that the price will be lower at this point in his life. Hey JD: Don’t dwell over a few bucks. Find a team in the race, and get in there and be an impact. I’d bet you’ve got one more good run in you. Do whatever it takes to get back, and enjoy it while you still can.