Bobby Bonilla Day: Why Mets pay former player $1.19 million every July 1st ?

It's July 1st, which means the day has arrived for you to wish Mets fans a cheerful Bobby Bonilla Day!

If you do not know what it's all about, July 1st is that the day that Bobby Bonilla will collect his $1,193,248.20 annual payment from the NY Mets, like he's done every July from 2011 through 2035. 


It's all a part of a deferred compensation deal that the now-retired 57-year-old Bonilla struck with the team after their 1999 season. The deal was an alternate to the team paying him a $5.9 million sum that he was still owed at the time. 

Bonilla, who hasn't played during a big-league baseball since 2001, will continue receiving these annual payments until a minimum of 2035. meaning the previous MLB player is going to be 72-years-old when he stops getting paid by the Mets. 

The story of the deal is simply as interesting because the money Bonilla is receiving.

According to CNN, disgraced financier Bernie Madoff played an indirect role in Bonilla's long-term deal. Back in 1999, the NY Mets wanted to let Bonilla go but the team still owed him nearly $6 million dollars. 

The team's owner, Fred Wilpon, was invested during a Bernie Madoff account and thought he'd be poised to receive an enormous profit. So, Wilpon chose to defer payments therefore the money might be invested. Wilpon unknowingly was one among Madoff's many Ponzi Scheme victims. Madoff is now serving a 150-year sentence for his financial crimes.

It was Bonilla's agent at the time, Dennis Gilbert, who negotiated the deal, and therefore the payments were deferred until 2011, once they started. 


When all is claimed and done, and with the 8% interest that was thrown in, calculations show that Bonilla will find yourself receiving a sweet $29.8 million at the top of it all. 

Bonilla is perhaps best remembered for these yearly payments and therefore the sweet deal his agent was ready to strike, but his career was impressive also. 


He had four straight All-Star seasons, alongside two consecutive top-three MVP finishes when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bonilla, a native of Bronx, was at one point the highest-paid player during a sport after he signed a $29.1 million effect the NY Mets before the 1992 season.