Gil Meche walks away from $12 million

Yesterday, Kansas City Royals' pitcher Gil Meche retired at the age of 32. Because of his decision to retire before Spring Training started, the $12 million is no longer owed to him by the Royals. Meche signed a 5-year, $55 million contract before the 2007 season, making his contract expire at the end of the 2011 season.  But it was Meche's decision to retire, rather than have shoulder surgery, possibly ending the 2011 season before it even started. If Meche did undergo surgery, he would not have been a starter for the Royals, but would be an "innings eater" in the bullpen. Yesterday, Meche stated, "I didn't want to go try it again for another season and be the guy making $12 million doing absolutely nothing to help their team. Yeah, a lot of people might think I'm crazy for not trying to play and making this amount of money. I don't think I'm ever going to regret it." I personally commend Meche for his decision, he is being honest in that he doesn't feel as though he is contributing, therefore does not want to receive compensation for nothing. But Meche has a large amount of money to retire on, $43 million to be exact, coming from the last 4 years with the Royals. In the 2007, '08, and '09 seasons, Gil was their number one starter in the rotation. His best season was in 2008 with Kansas City where he went 14-11 with a 3.98 ERA. Meche has been on a decline ever since the 2009 season, when his shoulder and back problems originally started. The 32 year-old finishes his career at 84-83 in 10 seasons with Seattle and Kansas City. Meche has also been quoted saying, "I know you hear a lot of athletes say, `It's not for the money, it's not for the money.' Actually, it wasn't." Hopefully everything works out for Gil Meche, and finds a position within the sport, if that's what he wants. So I wish Gil Meche luck in the future and hope he has a relaxing, healthy retirement.