Bobby Bonilla’s Mets contract is the gift that keeps on giving
Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Deferred contracts are not new for Major League Baseball but Bobby Bonilla’s stands out above the rest.
Every July 1, Bobby Bonilla cashes a check for $1,193,248.20 from the New York Mets, a team he has not suited up for since the Clinton administration. It has become known as ‘Bobby Bonilla Day,’ a tongue-in-cheek holiday celebrating the American dream of getting paid handsomely to do nothing at all.
So how did Bonilla land this legendary payday? Why is he the face of contract deferrals when so many others have cashed in too?
Bobby Bonilla was a four-time All-Star when he originally joined the Mets after the 1991 season, with a five-year, $29 million deal that made him the highest-paid player in baseball. He was no longer the MVP candidate he was in Pittsburgh, but he was still a very good player in New York. Unfortunately, he was hurt a lot, was criticized for his effort, and became the face of a very bad Mets team.
The Mets became one of the worst teams in baseball, losing 103 games in 1993. By the summer of 1995, they were done with Bonilla, trading him to Baltimore where he spent the next year and a half. He would sign a big deal with the Marlins, winning a title in 1997, then was dealt to the Dodgers when that team was dismantled. The Mets had a feeling of nostalgia and decided to reacquire Bonilla for the 1999 season in exchange for reliever Mel Rojas.
Bonilla still had two years left on his contract when the Mets acquired him, at a salary of $5.9 million each season, with the Dodgers covering $1 million. He hit just .160 in 60 games in 1999 and was considered a bad influence on players – he was playing cards with Rickey Henderson in the clubhouse during Game 6 of the NLCS. The Mets wanted to release him, but they wanted to free up some money to pursue players that could help them win a title.
Ownership proposed deferring the final $5.9 million of his salary remaining at 8 percent annual interest, giving Bonilla annual payments that would total $29 million – just a bit more than the five-year megadeal he originally signed with the team.
“I had no need for it right away because I was never really crazy with my money,” said Bonilla.
Mets owner Fred Wilpon was happy to defer the contract and use the money to pay for new acquisitions like Derek Bell, Mike Hampton, and Todd Zeile, players that would bring the Mets a pennant that year. And Wilpon had a special connection with a hedge manager that was bringing back double-digit returns each year that easily cover the costs of Bonilla’s deferral payments.
Those investments? With Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme would later collapse — taking the Mets’ financial strategy with it. Oops.
Bonilla’s deferral gained notoriety, but the concept itself was nothing new in baseball history. There are stories that Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams worked out a deferred compensation deal for the 1955 season to avoid paying more in a divorce settlement. Oakland Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley signed star pitcher Catfish Hunter to a deal that included half of the salary – $50,000 – to be placed in an insurance fund to pay for an annuity that would pay him after his career. But when Finley learned he could not deduct the payments in his taxes, he reneged on the deal, causing Hunter to become a free agent.
But upon the advent of free agency, owners were more willing to pay tomorrow for the services of a player today. The Atlanta Braves had floundered in the first few years under the ownership of media mogul Ted Turner, so in the fall of 1979 he splurged on free agent reliever Al “The Mad Hungarian” Hrabosky in a deal that would pay him $180,000 per year for 30 years. Hrabosky, who was released by the Braves midway through the 1982 season after recording seven total saves, earned $5.9 million in total compensation.
With his TBS superstation providing revenue, Turner again turned to deferred compensation when he signed All-Star closer Bruce Sutter to a six-year deal in 1984. The deal would pay him $4.8 million, with an additional $4.8 million placed in an annuity account at 13 percent interest that would pay out $1.3 million annually for 30 years. But that salary was only payment on the interest – when the payments ended in 2022, the Braves still owed him $9.1 million. Sutter had a 4.55 ERA with the Braves with just 40 saves over three seasons before retiring after the 1988 season.
Even the small-market Kansas City Royals used deferred compensation as a way of locking up the core talent. Owner Ewing Kauffman brought on Memphis real estate tycoon Avron Fogelman on as a minority owner in the 1980s, and they used his properties to sign superstar George Brett to lucrative deals tied to real estate investments.
Fogelman then offered “lifetime deals” to All-Stars Willie Wilson and Dan Quisenberry in 1985, giving Wilson the right to invest $1 million of his salary in real estate holdings that would pay him $21.56 million over 41 years, and Quisenberry the opportunity to invest $2.6 million in a payout of $45.85 million over 41 years.
“I think this is the wave of the future,” proclaimed Royals General Manager John Schuerholz.
But the real estate holdings never realized their value, and the club had to negotiate settlements with each player after they had already been let go by the club.
“I’d prefer not to announce any figures because they’re ridiculous,” lamented owner Ewing Kauffman.
Bobby Bonilla was not even the first Mets player to receive a deferred compensation deal. After acquiring two-time Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen from the Royals, the Mets inked him to a three-year contract extension in 1993 that would include annual payments of $250,000 from 2004 to 2028. Saberhagen would be an All-Star in 1994, but would pitch a total of 76 games with the Mets in four seasons.
And the Mets aren’t the only team paying Bobby Bonilla through a deferred compensation deal! When the Mets traded Bonilla to the Orioles, there was still $5.8 million left on his deal. The Orioles turned that into annual payments of $500,000 that began in 2004 and last for 25 years.
Ken Griffey Jr., Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, Johan Santana, Ryan Braun, Todd Helton, Chris Davis, Max Scherzer, and Matt Holliday are just some of the other stars on deferred compensation deals. And it is not just stars – Rafael Soriano, Kyle Lohse, Joe Blanton, and Bronson Arroyo also receive deferred compensation checks well after their playing careers.
So why, among all these deals, does Bobby Bonilla’s stand alone as a national punchline—and a cause for celebration every July 1? How did we get “Bobby Bonilla Day?”
The Mets have long been a convenient punchline, ever since their first year in the league when they set a modern-day MLB record with 120 losses. Their profligate spending with little on-field success was lampooned nightly by comedians like David Letterman and inspired the book “The Worst Team Money Could Buy.” Bonilla became the face of the team in that era, representing an oft-injured player not living up to his superstar contract.
Bonilla’s payments began in 2011, just a few years after Madoff went to jail and it was revealed how much the Wilpons had relied on those investments. It was the perfect symbol of how badly the Mets had been run – they were paying millions of dollars to a player who was sitting on his couch. When Bonilla received his first payment, some on social media referred to it as “Bobby Bonilla Day”, and by 2015, the mainstream media had picked up on the nickname.
As for Bonilla, he seems comfortable with his annual check being part of his legacy. “It’s kind of become like my birthday,” he told the New York Post last year. “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.”
Deferred contracts are everywhere in baseball — from Hall of Famers like Griffey and Sutter to journeymen like Joe Blanton. But none captured the public imagination like Bonilla’s, thanks to the perfect storm of bad timing, bad optics, and very Metsian mismanagement. He may not have lived up to his contract on the field, but off it, Bobby Bonilla has become immortal – baseball’s most unlikely folk hero, celebrated every July 1 with a laugh, a headline, and a million-dollar check.
