New York Mets Bobby Bonilla Not Only Retired Player Getting Paid

It is July 1, which means that fans around the world are going to point and laugh at the New York Mets for paying Bobby Bonilla his annual $1.19 Million. He is not the only former player getting paid.

Back in 2000, as the New York Mets were desperate to be rid of Bobby Bonilla. The only problem was, they owed him another $5.9 Million to buy out the contract of the former All Star. Desperate to use that money for another ill-fated signing, the Mets and Bonilla came to an agreement that the Mets would defer that payment, where he would get an annual payout beginning in 2011. That payout would have an annual 8% interest rate, allowing Bonilla to get something for waiting.

Well, on the seventh installment of his annual payout, Bonilla has more than surpassed his original $5.9 Million. He has now received over $8 Million, and with payments through 2035, he will end up getting over $29 Million. Not a bad investment at all.

Yet, while it is easy to point the finger and laugh at the Mets, they are hardly the only team paying players that are no longer a part of the club. The Boston Red Sox are paying Manny Ramirez over $2 Million this season, and that payout will continue to increase until 2026. Jim Edmonds is getting just over $400,000 per year from the St. Louis Cardinals until the end of this decade.

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It is not just players whose careers ended recently that are being paid. The Mets are also on the hook for $250,000 every year for Bret Saberhagen, who is going to be paid every year until 2029. Bernard Gilkey is receiving over $1 Million per year from the Arizona Diamondbacks until 2021, one of the many turn of the century players with deferred contracts.

Bonilla’s deferred contract is not even the most ridiculous one still being paid. Bruce Sutter is still being paid by the Atlanta Braves, as part of the 36 year contract he signed back in 1985. Not only is he getting a minimum payout of $1.12 Million, but when the contract expires in 2021, Sutter will get paid an additional $9.1 Million in principal.

Deferred contracts are not a thing of the past either. The Washington Nationals have been using deferred contracts to manage their payroll, with Ryan Zimmerman and Max Scherzer set to receive hefty paydays after their time in the nation’s capital ends.

The Mets are also not he only team paying Bonilla these days. They actually signed Bonilla to another contract with deferred money when he was brought in as a free agent in 1992, and was to be paid $500,000 from 2004 through 2023. When he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, part of the agreement was that the Orioles would pick up half that deferred money. So, Bonilla not only gets a second check from the Mets, but he is still being paid by Baltimore as well.

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It’s Bobby Bonilla Day once again. However, let us remember that the New York Mets are not the only team making deferred payments, and are not the only team paying Bobby Bonilla this year.