Bobby Bonilla Day: The legendary contract that set a baseball trend
It is the ultimate sports weekend of the summer.
Wimbledon is getting underway with first-round matches in London.
Joey Chestnut, the 15-time world champion, will be defending his title in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 in Coney Island, New York.
And on Saturday, July 1, the baseball world will once again be celebrating its traditional holiday, Bobby Bonilla Day.
Yep, for the 13th consecutive year, with 12 more years to go, the New York Mets will be cutting a check for $1,193,248.20 to Bonilla.
Bonilla, 60, hasn’t played a baseball game since 2001, but he continues to be paid until he’s 72 years old, turning $5.9 million into $30 million thanks to a deferred contract with a whopping 8% interest rate negotiated by former agent Dennis Gilbert.
“I talk to Bobby on a regular basis anyway,’’ Gilbert told USA TODAY Sports, “but I really think about him on Father’s Day, because it’s the father of all deferred contracts.’’
This wasn’t the first deferred contract in baseball history.
It certainly isn’t the largest.
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But, oh, it's the most celebrated.
Veteran agent Joe Longo paid the ultimate respect to Gilbert in March, 2020, when he was negotiating Christian Yelich’s club-record nine-year, $215 million contract. When Brewers owner Mark Attanasio and Longo reached a resolution that would defer $30 million of his contract, paying him $2.5 million from 2031-2042, Longo asked for the deferred payments to be paid annually on Jan. 1. Attanasio wanted it paid at the end of the season.
“So I said, 'Why don’t we have a Bobby Bonilla Day, and split the difference?'’’ Longo said. “So we settled on July 1.
“I called Go-Go [Gilbert] and told him, 'That was in your honor? Why not have another player paid on Bobby Bo Day?'’’
Said Gilbert: “I was honored.’’
While the landscape still is littered with deferred contracts, with Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts having $115 million deferred from his 12-year, $365 million contract, most are now without interest, like Betts’ deal.
Really, except for a 1% interest rate in the $80 million in deferred payments in Stephen Strasburg’s seven-year, $245 million contract with the Washington Nationals that will be paid from 2028-2030, few players have received deferred contracts with interest for the past 10 years.
“Back in the day, there were always deferrals with some interest,’’ says Nez Balelo, who represents Shohei Ohtani. “Now, you just don’t see it. It doesn’t mean you can’t negotiate that still, but it’s harder and harder.
“I have some clients who like it, and others who don’t. Some want to be aggressive with their money, saying what if I can get that money up front and invest it properly, while others like having that guaranteed money coming in every year after they retire.’’
Now with interest rates increasing, it will be intriguing to see if more players go the route of Bonilla, taking deferred contracts providing there’s interest attached.
“I think it can be a good thing,’’ said Gilbert, who negotiated about six deferred contracts including former Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen, “just because more and more players have not saved money. You’re seeing them taking menial jobs because they just don’t have the money. These deferred contracts are a way to give them protection.’’
Ken Griffey Jr. had half of his nine-year, $112.5 million contract deferred with 4% interest when he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, permitting the Reds to spend more money on their current payroll. The way Griffey figured it, said agent Brian Goldberg, is that he was earning lucrative endorsements as a player, so once he retired with little income coming in, the deferred payments would kick in. He’s receiving $4.988 million a year now, Goldberg said, that began paying him in 2009 and lasting through 2024.
“This was like having a great annuity," Goldberg said. “It was a 16-year payout, and now the deal takes him almost to the age of 55. I think everyone’s happy the way it has worked out.’’
The secret benefit, of course, is that Griffey lives in Orlando, Florida, where there are no state taxes. So his deferred compensation these days aren’t taxed nearly as heavy as if he still were playing. It’s the same with Mets co-ace Max Scherzer, who lives in Jupiter, Florida. He is being paid $15 million a year in deferred payments from 2022 to 2027 from the Washington Nationals, and $15 million in 2028 from the Dodgers.
“I generally don’t like to use deferrals,’’ said veteran agent Scott Boras, who made a bundle for pitcher Bill Caudill in 1985 on a four-year, $7 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, deferring the bulk of his contract into an annuity at 12% interest. “They’re generally not very beneficial for the player and devalue the face value of the contract.’’
Now, with interest rates rising, and prices escalating in the free-agent marketplace, who knows, there could be another Bobby Bonilla deal awaiting.
“It’s funny how the Bobby Bonilla thing has blown up,’’ Balelo says. “I just think it’s because someone has been out of the game for so long, making that much money every year, it fascinates people.’’
There are plenty of other long-term deferred payments still being made to retired players. Former Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis will be paid through 2037. Former All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday is being paid until 2029. Former Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez will be paid until 2026.
Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, who signed a 10-year, $331 million extension in January, will be paid through 2043.
But Bonilla remains the only player who will be paid until he’s 72 years old.
“There’ll be plenty of other deferred contracts,’’ Gilbert says, “but for a guy to be paid that long into his life, into his 70’s, I don’t think we’ll ever see that again.
“That’s why Bobby Bonilla Day should be celebrated.
“Come on, we’ve only got 12 more years that we can keep doing this.’’
Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bobby Bonilla Day: The legendary MLB contract that set a trend
