Every year on July 1, Bobby Bonilla receives a million-dollar payment from the News York Mets – and he hasn’t played for two decades.
This July 1st is not a birthday, but the Bobby Bonilla Day, which is repeated every year on this date. For the aforementioned Bobby Bonilla it is probably much better than any birthday – because it is a mega-payday.
Anyway, it stands for one of the craziest MLB stories ever – and it’s definitely not a bad pension plan.
But one thing at a time: Since 2011, Bonilla has been receiving a check from the New York Mets on July 1 each year in the amount of exactly $1,193,248.20 – even though he last accrued for the franchise in 1999.
How that can be? The Mets sacked their outfielder before the 2000 season, but still owed the now 54-year-old $5.9 million in salary at the time. But instead of paying Bonilla the full amount, both parties agreed to postpone the payment – with eight percent interest.
Bonilla profits until he is 72 years old
The agreement, which will apply for a quarter of a century from 2011 to 2035, has had serious consequences to this day, because: Due to interest and compound interest, 5.9 million finally became 29.8 million dollars – divided by 25, Bonilla gets 1,193,248.20 dollars every year.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” the three-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award, who also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals, told the New York Post in 2017.
Since he is 48 years old, the million-dollar sum has been flowing per annum – and will only stop when Bonilla is 72 years old.