The Mets still owe the former MLB All-Star more than $1 million annually. Bobby Bonilla Day: Why

The Mets still owe the former MLB All-Star more than $1 million annually. Bobby Bonilla Day: Why

July 1st is a significant day for many MLB players and former players. It’s the day when a lot of deferred salary payments, or at least a portion of them, are made. Checking that sizable direct deposit every year must be enjoyable, right? The star of the July 1 payout is Bobby Bonilla, a former All-Star who last participated in competition in 2001.

The New York Mets have paid Bonilla slightly over $1 million ($1,193,248.20) on July 1st of every year since 2011 as part of a deferred salary deal. The yearly disbursements will persist until 2035. 2035! When the payments stop, Bonilla, who is currently 61, will be 72.

In 1991, the Mets signed Bonilla to a $29 million five-year contract, which at the time was the highest salary in team sports. Before being sent away, he played the first three and a half seasons of his contract with New York. As part of Florida’s post-championship fire sale, Bonilla was later traded back to the Mets after winning a World Series with the Marlins in 1997.

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Although Bonilla was cut by the Mets in January 2000, they were still responsible for his $5.9 million salary for that campaign. Instead, the ownership of the Mets decided to postpone Bonilla’s compensation with 8% interest over a 25-year period, from 2011 to 1935, since they thought they would earn handsomely from their investments with Bernie Madoff.

Following the collapse of Madoff’s Ponzi scam, Bonilla’s $5.9 million grew to $29.8 million between 2000 and 2011. The yearly payment of $1.19 million is calculated by dividing the $29.8 million by 25 years. A few years back, in observance of Bonilla’s yearly deferred payments, CBS Sports produced a bobblehead:

Following the team’s 2020 acquisition by Steve Cohen, the Mets owner proposed holding an annual Bobby Bonilla celebration at Citi Field, complete with an absurdly large cheque. As of this writing, the plan has not materialized, and on July 1 of this year, the Mets will travel to play the Nationals.

Without a doubt, the most well-known July 1 payment in baseball is Bonilla’s delayed paycheck with the Mets, but there are other July 1 payments as well. As a matter of fact, Bonilla has two deferred compensation agreements with the Baltimore Orioles, who owe him a total of $500,000 for the years 2004 through 2008. The first of July is a happy day for the Bonilla family.