NEW YORK (WPIX) — The rent is due in Flushing on Tuesday, and Bobby Bonilla is coming to collect.
July 1 is widely known in the baseball world as Bobby Bonilla Day, marking the day when the former New York Mets third baseman receives roughly $1.19 million from his previous employer. The yearly payment to Bonilla has been made since 2011 and will run through 2035.
But how is Bonilla, a six-time All-Star who hasn’t played since 2001, still receiving such large payments? Let’s explain.
Bonilla’s history in New York
The legend of Bonilla’s tenure in New York began when he signed a five-year $29 million contract with the Mets in the 1991 offseason, coming off of four straight All-Star nods and two top-three National League Most Valuable Player finishes with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bonilla was the centerpiece of a big-spending offseason for the Mets — other signings included eight-time All-Star Eddie Murray, six-time All-Star and former New York Yankee Willie Randolph, and a trade that brought over pitcher Bret Saberhagen from the Kansas City Royals — which culminated in the highest payroll in Major League Baseball heading into the 1992 season.
Reality did not meet expectations in ’92 as New York finished with a 72-90 record, good for fifth in the NL East. Bonilla also had his worst statistical season since his breakout 1987 season in Pittsburgh.
In 1995, Bonilla was traded to the Baltimore Orioles as the Mets stared down their fourth consecutive losing season since signing the slugger to his contract. He returned to play with the Mets in 1999, but was cut in the offseason with $5.9 million remaining on his deal.
How Bobby Bonilla Day came to be
Instead of paying out the sum right away, former Mets owner Fred Wilpon worked out a deal to spread the contract out annually starting in 2011 with 8 percent interest until 2035. So, rather than handing Bonilla a one-time check of $5.9 million, he will compound nearly $30 million when the last payment is made.
Reports by ESPN years later revealed Wilpon was deeply intertwined with Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme at the time of reworking Bonilla’s contract, which allowed him and former Mets owner Saul Katz to invest more in Madoff.
The deal was mocked and despised by the Mets fans for years, but it took a turn for the better when Steve Cohen bought the team from the Wilpons and Katz’s in 2020.
The next year, Cohen and the organization announced a Bobby Bonilla Day promotion that involved a stay at an Airbnb hosted by Bonilla, access to Mets training facilities, and a chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
How much has Bonilla earned — and how much does he have left?
Remember how the Mets owed Bonilla just $5.9 million when he was cut from the team?
Since he started receiving payments in 2011, and including this year’s payment, Bonilla has received $16.7 million — nearly three times what he was owed more than three decades ago.
And he isn’t done yet. The deal runs through 2035.
Until then, Bonilla will receive another $13.1 million, giving way to a lump-sum payout of more than $29.8 million.
When the final check is cut by the Mets and Bobby Bonilla Day is retired, we’ll likely get to experience another deferred payment holiday: Shohei Ohtani Day.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way megastar signed a record-setting deal in 2023 that will pay him $20 million through 2033. Then, from 2034 through 2043, Ohtani is set to receive a whopping $680 million, amounting to $68 million a year.
In case you’ve gotten lost in the numbers, Ohtani’s deferred payments, each, amount to more than double what Bonilla is receiving.
But until then, July 1 remains Bonilla’s day.