Happy Bobby Bonilla Day to those who celebrate.
Each year, when July 1 arrives, the New York Mets pay Bonilla more than a million dollars. It certainly must be a celebration for Bonilla, who last paid for the Mets in the year 2000.
For the uninitiated: Every year on July 1, the former New York Mets star gets paid $1,193,248.20.
It’s part of what was called a $29 million contract in 1991. By 2000, when the Mets chose to release Bonilla, then owner Bernie Madoff decided in the buyout it’d be better to defer paying Bonilla the $5.9 million he was still owed across 25 years (2011-2035) with eight percent interest.
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So this will go on until 2035.
The year 2026 is the 17th time that the Mets have paid Bonilla this sum. There’s still 2027 through 2035 to go.
He has been paid more than $20 million in deferred payments so far.
Bonilla was born on Feb. 23, 1963. He’s 62 as of July 1, 2025. And he’s still well-paid by Major League Baseball.
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He was a good MLB player, a switch-hitter who batted .279 in his career with 2,010 hits and 287 home runs. Bonilla made six All-Star teams and won a World Series with the Marlins.
In his five seasons with the Mets specifically, Bonilla hit .270 with 95 homers.
The folks who made the decision to defer Bonilla’s money aren’t in control of the Mets anymore, and it’s not like their current ownership is lacking for money.
But for one day, Bonilla makes more than a million dollars, and he will for nearly a decade more.