As we have reached the second half of the calendar year, it is a big day for Mets fans that get annoyed with stories that come up all the time in the annals of #LOLMets moments and an even bigger day in the Bobby Bonilla household.
As you may or may not have heard about. Bonilla during the end of his second tour of duty with the Mets as he was owned a bit of money after he was bought out.
Back near the end of Bonilla’s playing days, the Mets agreed to pay him $1,193,248.20 annually on July 1 for 25 years, beginning in 2011.
Bonilla was owed $5.9 million when the Mets agreed to that buyout.
The agreement called for deferred payments at an 8 percent annual interest rate. At the time, Mets ownership did not mind that interest rate because their investments with Bernie Madoff were returning comfortably more than that figure.
Meanwhile, believe it or not, the Mets annually make a second payment to Bonilla, too.
CBSSports.com reported last year that Bonilla receives a separate payment for 25 years, which is the shared responsibility of the Mets and Baltimore Orioles and runs through 2028. The Mets reportedly are required to pay slightly more than half of the annual $500,000 sum, which stems from Bonilla’s original tour of duty with the Mets.
Bonilla was the big free agent signing for the Mets before the 1992 season, which was a team that was dubbed as the “Worst team money could buy” as they were picked by many to win the NL East and ended up not coming close to doing that.
He would be traded away to the Baltimore Orioles in the middle of the 1995 season to the Baltimore Orioles for superstar prospect Alex Ochoa (Remember him??) but found his way back to the Mets before the 1999 season.
Bonilla, who was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Dodgers in the deal that sent Mike Piazza to South Beach before he was sent to the Mets, would be traded back to the Mets for legendary relief pitcher Mel Rojas
Of course his 1999 season became more famous for what he was reportedly doing as the season was coming to an end in an excruciating way in Atlanta.
The story goes that Bonilla and Rickey Henderson were in the clubhouse playing cards as Kenny Rogers was walking Andruw Jones to lose Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
The Mets released Bonilla in January 2000, worked out the deal to pay him for the next 25 years and every July 1st he gets his check in the mail and is 1.19 million dollars richer.
So lets all congratulate Bobby Bo on pulling off of the greatest deals in human history and we’ll see you next July 1st when he gets his next check from the Mets.
