July 1st has been a source of entrainment for everyone who isn’t a Mets fan. Why, one word Bobby Bonilla. At one point Bonilla was one of the best hitters in the game. He and Barry Bonds created one of the scariest lineups when they were both in Pittsburgh. In his career, he slashed .279/.358/.472 good for a .829 OPS with 287 home runs and 1173 RBIs.
However, the reason why Bonilla is still talked about isn’t because of his great playing career. He’s yet another way for people to make fun of the Mets. Yeah everyone’s favorite punching bag has yet another reason for people to make fun of them. Why you may ask, well every July 1st the Mets have to pay Bonilla a little over a million dollars as part of a buyer out. But why do people find this so amusing, and why is it one of the dumbest things to make fun of?
Why Does Bobby Bonilla Day Exist?
To understand why the Mets and Bonilla made this agreement we have to go back to 1991. The Mets signed the third baseman to a five-year 29 million dollar deal. At the time the richest contract in baseball. After years of succeeding and the Mets struggling, he was shipped off to Baltimore in 1995. He spent a couple of seasons where he bounced around from Baltimore to Flordia, to Los Angeles, and returned to the Mets in the 1999 season. After an underwhelming season, the Mets released him in 2000.
However, to release him the Mets would have to pay him 5.9 million. His salary for the 2000 season. This is when Mets owner Fred Wilpon had an idea. Believing he was about to significantly add to his fortune thanks to his investments with Bernie Madoff, he deferred Bonilla 5.9 million. Instead, they spread it from 2011-2035 with 8% interest. Meaning that instead of getting it all upfront, he would get it over those 24 years with interest building on it.
If you know anything about finance or were following the news in the late 2000s, you know that Madoff was running one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in US history. This crippled the Wilpons’ finances, which caused the Mets to stop spending like they did. This made the Bonilla contract look a lot worse than it was.
This Is a Very Common Industry Practice
Even though Bonilla is the highest-profile deferred contract, it’s not the only one that exists. In fact, there are lots of high-profile players and teams that have a very similar contract. According to Spotrac, 13 players are receiving a similar deferral system as Bonilla. And it’s not like it’s not name players. Guys like Manny Rameriez, Ken Griffey Jr., Dustin Pedroia, and Ryan Braun are just a few high-profile players who are also receiving money on July 1st.
This begs the question of why is Bonilla signaled out and joked about. Simple, it’s another thing to clown the Mets about. For whatever reason it seems like the media and baseball fans love to joke and make fun of the Mets. If any other team other than the Mets had done this with Bonilla, it’s probably never brought up. Now sure there are plenty of embarrassing moments throughout Mets history. Stuff that people have every right to make fun of. However, clowning the Mets for Bonilla just doesn’t make any sense.
Thanks for reading! Credit for my feature image goes to Tom Lynn. You can find more MLB content at Belly Up Sports and follow me on Twitter/X.
