Today's Stat

$51,837,500

is the life time earnings of Gil Meche.

"Who? Why, Gil Meche, of course.

Gil was a Major League pitcher for 10 years. He played for the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals. Perhaps you think you've never heard of him because of the teams he played on. Or, more than likely it is because he was 100% middle of the road average.

He retires with a record of 84 - 83, a .504 winning percentage. But, LPCardsFan, you say, wins and losses is not a good measure of a pitcher. It is too reliant on his teammates. I agree. So let's look at his adjusted ERA (ERA+). This measure compares him to other pitchers and adjusts for ballpark. A 100 is the middle of the road. Meche's career ERA+ is 99.

Meche is the very definition an average major league pitcher. And he made $52 million. One might argue that this proves that salaries from pro athletes are out of control. Maybe. I would counter with the fact that Gil Meche was employed by major league franchises for 10 years because he ranked in the top 750 baseball players in the world for a decade.

The wages of mediocrity in MLB are different than in other buisnesses.