Some free agents shut out by MLB's color barrier

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As baseball celebrates the 63rd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier on Thursday, black players continue to have an uphill battle according to one Major Leaguer.

Minnesota Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson told Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that veteran black free agents have a harder time getting signed by Major League clubs.

“You see guys like Jermaine Dye without a job,” Hudson said. “Guy with [27 home runs and 81 RBIs] and can’t get a job. Pretty much sums it up right there, no? You’ve got some guys who miss a year who can come back and get $5, $6 million, and a guy like Jermaine Dye can’t get a job. A guy like Gary Sheffield, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, can’t get a job. We both know what it is. You’ll get it right. You’ll figure it out. I’m not gonna say it because then I’ll be in [trouble].”

Dye hit .251 with 27 home runs and 81 RBI’s for the Chicago White Sox in 2009. The 36-year-old struggled following the All-Star break, hitting just .179 in 60 games. He reportedly turned down a one year, $4 million offer from the Washington Nationals; far less than the $11 million he made last season with the White Sox.

“I’m sure it was as much as they could do,” Dye said on the offer from the Nationals. “With the economy, they can only offer so much. I’m sure with that team and that payroll, what they had to offer was their best. I look at the whole situation: Living in Phoenix, Arizona — this will be my [15th] year in the big leagues — and Washington being on the East Coast, that’s not like one of the first teams that is going to jump out at me.”

Of the 20 remaining free agents with Major League experience, Dye is the biggest healthy bat that remains unsigned. The critics can point to Dye’s questionable defense or decline in numbers during the second-half of last season, but you can’t argue the fact that he’s averaged 32 home runs the last five seasons.

The current Nationals outfield of Josh Willingham, Nyjer Morgan and Willie Harris hit a combined 32 home runs in 2009. Dye shouldn’t ever expect another contract worth $11 million a season but he’s worthy of more than a $4 million deal as a fourth outfielder.

In the case of Sheffield, the 41-year-old is even more limited than Dye defensively and has a reputation for not being a good clubhouse guy. When the New York Mets refused to sign Sheffield to a contract extension last season, he threatened to leave the team midway in the season. We might have seen the last of Sheffield, who has 509 career home runs and a likely spot in Cooperstown when he officially decides to retire.

Dye and Sheffield aren’t the only veteran black players that have struggled finding jobs as free agents.

Outfielder Garret Anderson signed a $550,000 minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers after making $2.5 million last season with the Atlanta Braves. The three-time All-Star made the Dodgers as a reserve outfielder.

Second baseman Ray Durham saw his Major League career come to an abrupt end in 2008 after hitting .289 with six home runs and 45 RBIs for the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Brewers. The best offer he received in 2009 was a minor league offer from the Nationals believed to be worth $850,000 plus incentives.

The Major League Baseball Players Association is investigating Durham’s case as they’re expected to file a collusion grievance against owners who were allegedly conspiring against free agents last off-season.

Hudson speaks from experience as the four-time Gold Glove Award winner has spent the last two years waiting all off-season for offers from teams. In 2009, Hudson didn’t sign his one-year, $3.4 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers until Feb. 21.

This off-season, Hudson didn’t find a home with the Twins until Feb. 4, less than two weeks before players reported for Spring Training. The trouble that Hudson is hinting at might stem from the reaction across baseball regarding Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter’s comments in March on Latino players being “imposters.”

If Hudson is implying that general managers in baseball are racist, it’s a shame that the 32-year-old feels he can’t speak honestly on the topic. Young players like Jason Heyward and Matt Kemp need veteran guys like Hunter and Hudson to speak out on race as it pertains to the sport. If not, they too could find themselves out of work long before they’re ready to hang up their cleats.

It makes you wonder what Robinson, who battled bigotry and racism for the right to play baseball in 1947, would think if he were alive today regarding the state of black players in MLB.