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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > December > 10
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Dye deal real and not dead yet
For those vilifying me and suggesting I made up the Homer Bailey for Jermaine Dye deal, well, let me aim you toward another source - one who is right more often than wrong.
This appeared this afternoon in the blog of FoxSports baseball expert Ken Rosenthal.
The Jermaine Dye-to-the-Reds discussions continue at a “moderate” level, but for the moment the White Sox continue to plan on Dye being their Opening Day right fielder, according to a major-league source.
A deal for Dye was indeed close before Thanksgiving, the source said, with the White Sox expected to receive right-hander Homer Bailey and perhaps another prospect in return.
The trade, however, stalled in part due to questions about how much the White Sox would pay of Dye’s $11.5 million salary next season. The amount they paid would have affected the quality of the second prospect in the deal.
Now, the Reds simply might wait to determine whether they can sign a free-agent outfielder such as Bobby Abreu or Pat Burrell at a comparable salary without giving up any players in a trade.
Neither Abreu nor Burrell was offered salary arbitration by their former clubs, so neither would cost the Reds a draft pick.
End of Rosenthal report.
And a major-league scout told me early this week that the Dye-Bailey deal was still under discussion and could be announced this week. I report that dutifully and was scorched by some blog readers.
The thing is, perhaps 90 percent of all trade talks fall through. That doesn’t mean they weren’t talked about and came close to materializing. When I hear those about the Reds, I figure readers want to know what’s happening. So I report it. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong.
Dye-Bailey remains alive. Maybe on a respirator, but it is alive. Maybe it won’t happen - depending on what the White Sox are willing to eat of Dye’s $11.5 million contract and that prospects the Reds are willing to send to Chicago.
Anyway, that’s where it stands. Maybe some of you don’t want to hear any of this. But it won’t stop me from reporting what I know.
