Working the count; 30-somethings grinding to extend careers

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jarrod Dyson kept waiting for the phone to ring. As December faded and the hot stove cooled, one thought kept running through the free agent outfielder's mind.

“You mean to tell me I can't help nobody win?" said Dyson, who stole 30 bases for Arizona in 2019 before hitting the open market last fall.

Dyson's won plenty. He offers the World Series ring he earned while playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2015 as proof. He appeared in 130 games at age 34 last season for a Diamondbacks team that hung around the playoff picture until the final week of the season. He's been part of a rebuilding projects and raucous October celebrations. Now in the final innings of a decade-long career, he wouldn't mind another shot at a playoff run.

Yet the only palatable job offer Dyson received came from Pittsburgh. The Pirates are in need of a stopgap in center field after dealing Gold Glover Starling Marte to Arizona last month. So Dyson signed for one year and $2 million. Sure he considered holding out for a chance to catch on with a team that's not hitting reset following a last-place finish in the NL Central in 2019.

He needed a gig. Pittsburgh offered him one that pays a healthy wage. Things could be worse. A lot worse.

“Everybody wants to be with a winning team but at the same time, you've got to get in where you fit in,” Dyson said. “I can't be sitting at home waiting on a playoff team to call me. The Pirates gave me an opportunity, I'm going to take advantage of it.”

Dyson is hardly alone. Scan down (way down in some cases) spring training rosters and you'll find names that look out of place, All-Stars, postseason heroes and established veterans just trying to stave off the next phase of their lives on teams where expectations (and in most...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Working-the-count-30-somethings-grinding-to-15091531.php