Jermaine Dye drawing only minor interest, likely to retire

Jermaine Dye, ladies and gentlemen, is about to say goodbye to professional baseball.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, the free agent outfielder, now 37 years old, has only drawn minor league contract offers from interested big league clubs this offseason and only wants to continue his playing career if guaranteed a roster spot. Fair enough.

Dye wore the jersey of four different teams during his playing career -- the Braves, Royals, A’s and White Sox -- and will leave behind 325 career home runs and a .274/.338/.488 career batting line.

“I would still like to play, but I think my choices have passed and teams have gone with other people,” Dye said Wednesday. “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.”

The native of northern California probably could have made some noise as a part-time designated hitter in the American League this season, but his bad range defensively made him unattractive to teams who prefer flexibility. He posted a respectable .250/.340/.453 batting line and 27 home runs in 2009, his last year as a big leaguer. So, hey, the guy can tell the world that he went out on top.