The most infamous New York Mets auction of all time

Bobby Bonilla outsmarted the New York Mets and their owners, the Wilpon Family, for years. The Wilpons (who never were smart on the business of the Mets) decided to defer Bonilla’s final contract year after they released him following the 1999 season.

Instead, the Wilpons were victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and eventually had to pay Bonilla $1.19 million per year (in a lump sum on July 1, which is aptly named Bobby Bonilla Day) from 2011 through 2035 instead of the original $5.9 million.

Now, fans can be part of Bobby Bonilla Day, if they want to. Unfortunately, it’s not some of the money but Bonilla himself is auctioning off his copy of the contract.

Bobby Bonilla’s New York Mets contract is up for auction

You can have Bobby Bonilla’s copy of his contract with the New York Mets. Bidding started at $10,000 and as of early Thursday morning, there was one bid.

In addition to the contract, if you bid on the contract and win, you will win all of these things along with it.

• A once-in-a-lifetime chance to spend the day with Bobby Bonilla.
• Go to breakfast with him
• Head to Citi Field for a New York Mets game
• Watch batting practice on the field with him
• Enjoy the game with him
• Dinner after the game (all of the above would happen in 2023)
• A 30-minute Zoom call with Bobby Bonilla
• A 30-minute Zoom call with Dennis Gilbert (the agent who brokered Bonilla’s deferment deal)
• A signed baseball from Bobby Bonilla’s personal collection
• A game-used bat from Bobby Bonilla’s personal collection
• The 1/1 Bobby Bonilla Contract non-fungible token (NFT)

The auction will end on Saturday, August 6 at 10 p.m. (Eastern time)

For those who celebrate Bobby Bonilla and have some money, it could be a great experience for someone to learn about and get to know Bonilla and Dennis Gilbert, who were big parts of what is, arguably, the most player-friendly deal in MLB history.