The Bobby Bonilla Retirement Plan: Quit Baseball In 2001, Get Paid Until 2035

Bobby Bonilla hasn’t played in a professional baseball game since 2001, yet on July 1 of this year, the New York Mets paid him $1.19 million. And they will every July 1 until 2035, as part of a deferred contract that the Mets negotiated with Bonilla after the 1999 season. Instead of paying him $5.9 million that year, the Mets would owe Bonilla almost $30 million over the course of the deferred contract. How’d that happen? Watch the video above to find out.

Read more:

• Bobby Bonilla Was More Than The Patron Saint Of Bad Contracts
• The Undefeated: Bobby Bonilla Was More Than Just That Mets Contract