"There was a time this season when Jermaine Dye was willing to rip up his contract, forget the mutual option awaiting him this winter and sign a new deal at a hometown discount to keep him with the White Sox.

But life was different then. He had a .302 average to go along with 20 home runs and 55 RBI heading into the All-Star break.

Now Dye is trying to survive and show he's not washed up at 35. And, realistically, he knows this is his last homestand on the team with which he won a World Series.

''I'm not concerned about that,'' Dye said about his fate being all but sealed. ''Whatever happens is going to happen. At this point, you just want to get into a groove before the season is over, go into the offseason and see what happens.

''I've never struggled like this before, never had a whole half that has been nothing. Over the course of a career, I think that's pretty good. The five years I've been here I've had five pretty good years, and it just so happened that I struggled here at the end.''

Dye was out of the starting lineup Tuesday. He's hitting .168 in the second half with only five homers and 19 RBI.

''I have no clue,'' Dye said. ''I put in the work, and sometimes it doesn't work out. There's nothing wrong with the mechanics. When you struggle, the pitches you should hit, you foul off. The pitches you take normally when you feel good are balls, but they're strikes now. When you struggle, everything goes wrong. This second half, it just didn't happen.''"