FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal said he talked to Jermaine Dye today and that the 37-year-old has chosen to retire after sitting out the 2010 season.
Dye had a terrific first half in 2009, but after fading all of the way to .179 after the All-Star break, he failed to attract much interest as a free agent after the season. Unwilling to settle for a $10 million paycut, he ended up going unsigned last year. He talked about coming back this year, but again, there wasn’t a lot of interest and he didn’t seem interested in signing a minor league contract.
Now apparently finished, Dye ends a 14-year career with a .274/.338/.488 line, 325 homers and 1,072 RBI. A two-time All-Star, he had his best season in 2006, when he hit .315/.385/.622 with 44 homers and 120 RBI for the White Sox. That earned him a fifth-place finish in the AL MVP balloting. He never topped 35 homers outside of 2006, but he had back-to-back seasons of 119 and 118 RBI for the Royals in 1999 and 2000.
Dye was also the World Series MVP in 2005, going 7-for-16 with a homer and three RBI as the White Sox swept the Astros.