https://naviga.triblive.com/sports/ex-pirate-bobby-bonilla-still-outearns-some-notable-major-league-baseball-players/
Ex-Pirate Bobby Bonilla still outearns some notable Major League Baseball players
Former Pirate Bobby Bonilla hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2001, when he suited up for the Cardinals.
But he’s still collecting a check — $1,193,248.20 every July 1, per his buyout agreement with the New York Mets in 2000.
It’s known derisively as Bobby Bonilla Day. The agreement pays the 57-year-old that amount every year from 2011 through 2035 — a pretty nice arrangement for someone who hasn’t played in nearly two decades. He’ll be 72 when the payments end.
Dan Mullen: It's Bobby Bonilla Day! Why Mets pay him $1.19 million today and every July 1 https://t.co/Ikdw6575GB— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 1, 2020
Most people would love to get paid to stay home. But in a year when the Major League Baseball season has yet to begin because of the covid-19 pandemic, Bonilla’s paycheck might be the envy of some current players, who will all be making a fraction of their full salaries.
Assuming teams play their 60-game slates — down from 162 in a normal year — Bonilla will bank more for the year than some notable big leaguers, ESPN points out. Bonilla will outgain Kenta Maeda (P, Twins), Dansby Swanson (SS, Braves), Byron Buxton (CF, Twins), Mitch Moreland (1B/RF, Red Sox), Michael Wacha (P, Mets) and Hunter Pence (RF, Giants), among others.
Several players, Braves pitcher Luke Jackson, Reds pitcher Pedro Strop and Rockies infielder Tony Wolters, all stand to lose about the same amount as Bonilla’s agreement with the Mets pays him.
Bonilla’s deal stems from the Mets’ decision to buy out the remaining $5.9 million of his contract in 2000, which includes 8% interest. The Mets ownership at the time, ESPN notes, were invested in an account with Bernie Madoff and believed they stood to profit greatly. Madoff was later sentenced to 150 years in prison for stealing billions of dollars in what the New York Times calls “history’s largest Ponzi scheme.”
According to ESPN, Bonilla’s seemingly unusual deal with the Mets isn’t the only one around — and it’s not even the only one paying Bobby Bonilla. A second deferred-money agreement, this one with the Mets and Orioles, pays him $500,000 a year for 25 years, beginning in 2004. Bret Saberhagen, Max Scherzer, Manny Ramirez and Bruce Sutter all have deferred-money deals, as well, ESPN notes.
Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)