Would you ever walk away from $12M?
On most days, it’d be tough to find a reason to write about the Kansas City Royals in this space.
The team is a business, I suppose – in that it plays baseball games but also sells tickets and merchandise and makes a general effort to turn a profit.
But it also stinks, in spite of any attempt we can make to connect it to the goings-on at EverydayMoney.ca. So, why is the team appearing in mention here? Because one of its players just walked away from a guaranteed $12 million and set the whole world on fire.
Yes, it’s not the Royals’ on-field proficiency – the laughingstock hasn’t had a winning season since 1994 and recently traded its one marquee player, ace starter Zack Greinke – that’s making news. Gil Meche, the pitcher that was a big offseason free agent signing for the club in 2007, retired abruptly this month, voiding his contract before it played out.
Meche, who has a been a disappointment since inking a five-year, $55 million deal, has had shoulder problems in his career, sure, yet was still set to make the final $12 million of his contract in 2011 while he rehabbed his injury.
Instead, he just retired.
“When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it,” Meche told the New York Times. “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.”
Guilt, it appears, got to the 32-year-old Louisiana boy, but few have been able to comprehend what Meche was thinking, no matter how commendable his act was.
And the move by the pitcher, who was a lousy 29-39 in his time with the Royals, has ignited a big-picture debate not just in baseball but in the business world alike.
Would you ever walk away from guaranteed money (maybe not $12 million, necessarily) and, if so, what would it take?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: fishing fan | Jan 29, 2022 11:18:08 AM
A man with integrity and honour!!! Good for him. He's definitely his own person to make a decision like that for those reasons. I wonder if any politicans or CEO's have read his story!!!! LMAO about that.
Posted by: randy | Jan 29, 2022 12:42:59 PM
I think there is many reasons to walk family and love being the first two that come to mind.
Posted by: Northern Ontario | Jan 30, 2022 11:48:10 AM
I commend Gil for his actions but it also proves a point. The players nowadays make so much money that they can walk away from such large sum. Gil has made in excess of $80 million over the years for something he loves to do. How much more does he really need? Look at Derek Jeter. Sure he is the face of the Yankees and for that, he wanted to be paid close to $20 million a year for his declining services. I think he ended up with $15 million or so. It doesn't matter if the Yankees can afford it, it simply gets to a ridiculous amount that we the normal citizen can't comprehend.
In terms of walking away, I have walked away from a Government Job right out of University. Even though the pay was very good and the potential pension plan was attractive, I chose to walk away because the thought of not being able to make decisions was not gratifying enough.
Posted by: T to the Roy to the... | Jan 31, 2022 10:04:10 AM
Fishing Fan has it right. It's a sad World we live in when someone shows an extraordinary amount of personal integrity and fairness to others and is mocked about it. But I suppose in business, this is the norm. His thinking would be that's $12m the team could use to put towards training and/or better players, but in reality the management/owners willl probably just 'write it off' and use it for themselves.
A kind act today is like a drop of water into a lake. A few ripples, and then it's gone.
Posted by: BearPolar | Feb 2, 2022 1:59:24 PM
I don't want to undermine the intergrity of the person, but with the money he has its a little bit easier having already made a whopping 80mm. He may have alot more from investments. I say kudos for him but pro sports are in a position to a contract based on performance & if they are under a certain level then his pay is reduced accordingly! I'm sure he doesn't want to be laughed at to finish his last year! It sounds like he is facing a lot of jeers from fans already it woul only get more & more humiliating!
Posted by: frugalite | Feb 2, 2022 3:27:01 PM
I walked away from a career.
I was doing cancer research, and my supervisor, a professor at a research center in a hospital, was fabricating data. She tried to force me to publish some of her faked data, and I refused. Things got ugly to the point where I no longer felt physically safe, so I walked. My Ph.D. is now useless, and I am now starting over, going back to school for another career.
Posted by: Retired | Feb 3, 2022 3:11:17 PM
Pride is a good reason to walk away.