Knuckle Curve - Baseball News

Royals Sign Meche

by Geoff Young on December 7th, 2006

That poll I posted earlier asking you which free agent signing is the worst so far this winter should be amended to ask which is the second worst. The Kansas City Royals have signed right-hander Gil Meche to a contract worth — I can barely bring myself to type this — $55 million for 5 years.

Meche is 28 years old and is coming off his best big-league season, in which he posted a 4.48 ERA (slightly below average) over 186 2/3 innings. He also has had significant injury problems in the past. Meche is Darren Dreifort without the command, and he’s been guaranteed more money than Jason Schmidt, one of the best pitchers on the market this winter.

I’m just stunned. I understand that a team like the Royals needs to take risks. At the same time, all risks are not created equal. There’s a big difference between asking a girl out to dinner and skydiving without a parachute. It helps in life to recognize this difference and act accordingly.

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