It’s been 22 years, eight months and 25 days since Bobby Bonilla last played in a MLB game, but the 61-year-old is still cashing in nicely on his tenure with the New York Mets .
July 1 is widely recognized around the league as “Bobby Bonilla Day,” a celebration that will continue through 2035 as he collects his $1,193,248.20 check from the Mets each time this year. The infamous deal was once considered a blemish on the franchise’s history, but has since become an unofficial holiday amongst Mets fans.
“It’s kind of become like my birthday so to speak, right? It’s become that big,” Bonilla told the New York Post’s Christian Arnold . “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.”
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Bonilla inked a five-year, $29 million deal with the Mets in 1991, marking the richest contract in sports at the time of signing. But the slugger failed to live up to the exorbitant amount of money he was being paid, ultimately moving to the Baltimore Orioles and Florida Marlins before coming back to New York in 1999.
The following year, the Mets opted to buy out the $5.9 million that was left on Bonilla’s contract. Instead of paying the large sum of money then and there, New York agreed to spread it out into yearly payments from 2011-2035 with an additional eight percent interest.
Fred Wilpon, the Mets owner at the time, had several lucrative investments with Bernie Madoff that he planned on using to fund the buyout. But this plan was quickly derailed due to the fallout of the disgraced financier’s Ponzi scheme.
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The $5.9 million owed to Bonilla has since grown to $29.8 million, which is then divided into the nearly $2 million he receives in his mailbox each time this year. The Orioles, who Bonilla played for from 1995-1996, additionally pay him $500,000 in deferred annual payments for 25 years, with Baltimore’s deal beginning in 2004.
If Bonilla were to step foot on the major league baseball diamond again, he’d immediately rank as the 16th-highest-paid player on the Mets active roster payroll, according to Spotrac . His yearly earnings are also over $200,000 more than the $985,000 base salary that 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will earn this year on the heels of leading San Francisco to a Super Bowl berth.
As for how Bonilla celebrates the payday, the former Met revealed he’s taken a relaxed approach to the annual festivities, often participating in golf tournaments alongside his son on July 1.
Current Mets owner Steve Cohen has floated the idea of providing Bonilla with an oversized check at Citi Field to honor the yearly celebration, but this plan has yet to come to fruition.
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