It’s everybody’s favorite day of the year, except for the New York Mets.
As July 1 rolls around again, Bobby Bonilla, who hasn’t been a Met since 1999 is still getting more than $1 million a year. The New York Mets pay Bonilla that amount every year to do absolutely nothing at all.
Bonilla was traded to the Mets from the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 1999 baseball season. He played for the Mets that year, but the team wanted to part ways with him and buy out his contract before the next season began, still owing the former All-Star and 1997 World Series champion $5.9 million.
The agent representing Bonilla told the Mets they could release him and wouldn’t have to pay him right away. Instead, the payments could be deferred, with interest, to a once-a-year sum from 2011 to 2035.
At the time, Mets ownership was invested in a Bernie Madoff account that promised double-digit returns, and the Mets were poised to make a significant profit if the Madoff account delivered. As you may know, that never happened.
He will be getting paid through 2035 (when he’ll be 72).
Madoff was arrested in 2008 on charges he orchestrated one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history. He was sentenced to prison and died earlier this year.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral MLB stories via Google! Follow Us
Come 2035, the Mets will have paid Bonilla $29.8 million for the 2000 baseball season in which he played for their division rival, Atlanta Braves.
