I Thought It Was "Take The Money And Run"

You're fresh out of college and just start a job with a investment firm.  You sign the contract and start off making six figures, with the salary increasing each year as you progress.  Let's say you have one required year left and your heart just isn't in it anymore.  You can either half-ass your job for the last year, cash in on the final paycheck and then leave the company, or you can walk away right then and forfeit your last year of salary.  What would you do?

Well Gil Meche had that exact choice and his decision probably shocked a few people.  Meche signed a contract with the Kansas City Royals before the 2007 season, 5 years and 55 million dollars.  He was entering the final year of the contract this season, worth approximately 12 million dollars.  However, Meche was not worth anywhere near the 12 million dollars the team owed him.

Meche's shoulder has needed several operations and its condition has worsened significantly this season.  Meche likely would not have made the starting rotation and would require extensive rehabilitation in order to even come out of the bullpen.  But in Major League Baseball, contracts are guaranteed by the teams, so if Meche wanted to earn his salary then all he had to do was go through the motions from spring training until the Royals inevitably finished with 100+ losses in September and he could retire with 12 million extra in the bank.

In a surprising turn of events, Meche walked away.  Decided that the 12 million wasn't worth it.  More importantly, he figured that him as a pitcher wasn't worth the money.

“When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it.  Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.”

The idea of walking away from Jamba Juice this summer early and giving up a week of salary was difficult for me.  How in the world does Meche just wave goodbye to 12 million dollars?  I know that he's amassed an exorbitant amount of money for a pitcher of his caliber, but that's hardly a reason to essentially stack the money up in a pile and light it on fire.

The more admirable reason that he retired?  He believed that he needed to spend more time with his children, who do not live in Kansas City with him.  In a world where athletes are reviled for cheating, illegitimate children and prominent media stories, Gil Meche restores a little faith in athletes' ability to act appropriately.  He put his family first and saved his organization millions of dollars for his honesty.  It is a rare act from an athlete that deserves recognition from someone, even if it is just me.