Gil Meche retires!

[WadeInBmore]

Just read this moments ago on Yahoo! Sports. Graceful way to step down IMO. Glad to see him be honest with himself and the Royals. I hope that both parties can move forward from this point. Not a Royals follower, so the news was somewhat shocking. As an O's fan this made me think of when Joey Belle wore our uniform...and then retired from baseball because of a degenerative hip...and collected his money for the final 2 or 3 (maybe more) years remaining in his contract. I know it is his money and what he was entitled to, however Meche really puts things in perspective by taking the road less traveled.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Retiring-Gil-Meche-puts-a-price-tag-on-his-pride?urn=mlb-309149

wade

[CampWest]

Just read this moments ago on Yahoo! Sports. Graceful way to step down IMO. Glad to see him be honest with himself and the Royals. I hope that both parties can move forward from this point. Not a Royals follower, so the news was somewhat shocking. As an O's fan this made me think of when Joey Belle wore our uniform...and then retired from baseball because of a degenerative hip...and collected his money for the final 2 or 3 (maybe more) years remaining in his contract. I know it is his money and what he was entitled to, however Meche really puts things in perspective by taking the road less traveled.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Retiring-Gil-Meche-puts-a-price-tag-on-his-pride?urn=mlb-309149

wade

He could have had surgery and sat the year on DL and collected 12.4 mil. Classy way to go. Unlike Juan Gonzalez and Albert Belle who collected several years of salary without ever attempting to play. I tip my hat to Gil, I have no hard feelings for him.

Now, the Royals have a payroll of 30 Million with only Billy Butler unsigned. They exchanged arbitration numbers yesterday and the Royals offered a paltry 3.4 mil, though Butler only asked 4.3 mil. They should give him a 6yr 50mil extension (like Justin Upton, CarGo, Jay Bruce, etc). But frankly, I don't think Billy is taking a 6 year deal. I think he's gonna play out arbitration and become a free agent at age 25-26 and go for a monster contract. If he keeps his average up and hits a few more homers the next two seasons, he'll be in line for a big deal.

[nt_eagle]

Good Kid, and classy move by Him! Hopefully, Moore spends that $12 wisely!

[sox83cubs84]

At the time Meche signed with KC, there was speculation that he was headed for the Cubs. While I'm glad he didn't become Mark Prior, Part 3 for the Cubs, I do agree that he looks to be a classy guy...and I felt that way before this selfless decision.

Dave Miedema