What is Bobby Bonilla day? Explaining ex-Mets slugger’s annual payday
· Yahoo Sports
It’s that time of the year again: former New York Mets slugger Bobby Bonilla will score yet another payday from his former MLB team.
That might sound crazy because Bonilla has not played a single MLB game since 2001, when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, and he last suited up for the Mets in 1999.
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Despite that, Bonilla received what will go down as one of the greatest contracts in sports history that has been paying him — and will keep paying him — long after he retired.
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Explaining Bobby Bonilla’s Mets deal
Bobby Bonilla day was created in 2000, when the Mets wanted to buy out the remainder of his contract, which was worth $5.9 million.
The decision to buy out Bonilla’s contract came after a season in which he appeared in just 60 games and posted four home runs, 18 RBI and a .160 batting average.
But because the Mets didn’t want to pay the entire amount at that time, they decided to offer Bonilla a deal that would pay him almost $1.2 million per year starting on July 1, 2011, until July 1, 2035. Also included in the deal is eight-percent interest.
When it’s all said and done, that deal alone will pay Bonilla a whopping $29.8 million.
While the Mets were hammering out that deal with Bonilla, the team, led by then-owner Fred Wilpon, had invested money in Bernie Madoff, the American financier who pulled off the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
Bobby Bonilla’s reaction to annual Mets payday
The hilarious nature of this entire situation is not lost on Bonilla, who is now 63 years old.
“It’s kind of become like my birthday so to speak, right? It’s become that big,” Bonilla said back in 2024. “I don’t think people know the exact date of my birthday, but they certainly know when this deferred comp comes in, so it’s pretty cool in that respect.”
For the record, Bonilla’s birthday is February 23, but it’s safe to say he has two as long as he receives that big check from the Mets every July 1.
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Bonilla’s first deal with the Mets was signed in 1991, and at the time his five-year, $29 million contract mad history.
He spent three-plus seasons with the Mets during his first stint before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1995.
Bonilla then returned to the Mets for the 1999 season, which was his last in New York.
Along with the Mets, Cardinals and Orioles, Bonilla also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers during his career.