Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
Like every player on the New York Mets, Bobby Bonilla receives a large paycheck every July for their services on the diamond. Only difference here? Bobby Bonilla doesn’t play for the Mets and hasn’t given them his services in decades.
Every July 1, the Mets pay a 55-year-old retired player of theirs a whopping $1,193,248 due to the more infamously, arguably greatest sports contract ever negotiated.
The deal originated from the Mets owing Bonilla $5.9 million for the 2000 season, but instead of paying the slugger that money, the team negotiated with his agent to pay him later, attaching an 8 percent annual interest rate to deferred money. The first payout of the money came on July 1, 2011, and the Mets have been paying the same amount every July 1 since, and will until the year 2035, meaning that original $5.9 million turned into $29.8 million for Bonilla.
Bonilla retired at the end of the 2001 season.
