Former Mets player Bobby Bonilla gets his annual check Wednesday from his old team.
Every July 1, the Mets cut Bonilla a check for more than $1 million, and they’ll keep doing it through July 2035. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
The Mets have now paid Bonilla, who is now 57, $11.93 million for the 2000 season that he didn’t play for them ($1,193,248.20 each July 1).
They have $18 million to go. pic.twitter.com/zwaTa91Qfe
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 1, 2020
ESPN wrote the following explaining how the Mets and Bonilla ended up in this situation:
In 2000, the Mets agreed to buy out the remaining $5.9 million on Bonilla’s contract.
However, instead of paying Bonilla the $5.9 million at the time, the Mets agreed to make annual payments of nearly $1.2 million for 25 years starting July 1, 2011, including a negotiated 8% interest.
At the time, Mets ownership was invested in a Bernie Madoff account that promised double-digit returns, and the Mets were poised to make a significant profit if the Madoff account delivered — but that did not work out.
Bobby Bonilla Day is something sports fans everywhere love celebrating. I’ve already received multiple texts about it today.
The dude somehow finessed $5.9 million into tens of millions of dollars, and that’s something I think we can all support.
Annual reminder: Today is Bobby Bonilla Day. So $1.19M more is deposited in his name. (Good news for the Mets: only 15 years to go)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 1, 2020
Imagine being the Mets. They could have paid the guy $5.9 million, and instead chose to pay him nearly $1.2 million for 25 years!
If that’s not an all-time stupid move from an MLB team, then I just don’t know what is. Bonilla is going to be rolling in the green for years to come!
Don’t spend it all in one place, Bobby!
This post originally appeared on and written by:
David Hookstead
The Daily Caller
