"Jermaine Dye isn't ruling anything out.

After all, at 35 years old and with 14 major-league seasons under his belt, the free-agent outfielder has seen crazier things happen.

'First of all, I could come back to the Sox,'' Dye said in a phone interview Tuesday. ''I talked to [White Sox general manager] Kenny [Williams], and negotiations could still go on. Kenny talked to me about the fact that his hands are tied as far as spending money, but ... I could sign for less.''

That's classic Dye, being the good businessman and keeping all doors open. Even one as slammed shut as the situation with the Sox actually is.

The Sox announced last week that they would pay Dye a $950,000 buyout rather than pick up their $12 million option on his contract for 2010. Translation: Thanks for the memories, No. 23.

So while Dye expressed his desire to return to the South Side, he knows the reality of the situation. The place where he spent the last five seasons, won a World Series and played the best baseball of his career is about to become a fond memory.

Sure, Williams and Dye are saying the right things, but the likelihood of Dye returning is small and shrinking.

''I think Kenny is legit with me and [free agent] Jimmy [Thome] on what he's told us this offseason,'' Dye said. ''He's honest. If he doesn't have [the money to spend], he doesn't have it. Kenny and I have a friendship beyond baseball, and he will be real with me. He's not someone that will tell you something and then go behind your back.''

Neither is Dye.

Even with a window still open to negotiate with the Sox exclusively, he already has been fielding inquiries from other teams. While Dye won't say which teams are interested, it's no secret the Texas Rangers have had him on their radar for years. The Boston Red Sox, who were on his list of no-trade destinations, are also a possibility.

''At the end of the day, I wasn't surprised with how this has played out,'' Dye said. ''With me being with the Sox as long as I had been, if they wanted to pick up my option or do something else as far as a new deal, they would have done it at the end of the season.

''I have to assume that because they bought me out, my services are terminated with them right now. In the future, who knows? That's a place I love and won a World Series. That's a place I'll never forget. Someday I may come back as a player or with another title. My first choice is still there, but this is a business.''

During Dye's hot first half this past season, manager Ozzie Guillen and Dye expressed their desire to get an extension done. But a frigid second half, during which Dye hit only .179 with seven home runs, all but sealed his fate. Just like that, one of the Sox' most prolific hitters was deemed expendable.

''I don't think it's fair to label a guy as declining because of two or three months,'' Dye said. ''That's just the way my second half was. For me to go through that one time in 13 years, that's pretty good."