Royals Ransom

I was told this past weekend that my "blog is interesting when it's not about betting" and that I should write more about non-gambling related stuff, so here's a post about a relatively obscure baseball pitcher named Gil Meche. (At least it's sports related).

His story actually received some coverage in the Daily Mail, but as that 'paper' is unreadable for anyone with half a brain, I'm hoping no one saw it there. Gil Meche made the headlines last month because he announced that he would retire and forfeit $12.4 million on his contract, money he would have been entitled to simply by reporting to spring training with the Kansas City Royals. Shoulder injuries have made him ineffective over the past few years, (5 losses from 9 starts last season) and he felt that taking the money "just wasn't the right thing to do".

There's no need to pass the hat around for Mr Integrity though - over the last four years he's pocketed $43 million, so he should be able to put money on the table for a while yet. What did the hapless Royals get for their $43 million? Over four seasons, Meche won 29 games, and lost 39.

Liverpool and Chelsea will be hoping for more from their recent investments.