We should all enjoy a Bobby Bonilla Day. But we don’t. Only one 61-year-old former ballplayer receives a payment of $1,193,248.20 from the New York Mets every July 1 through 2035.
Why? Deferred is the word.
It isn’t Shohei Ohtani money, but it’s something. The payments to Bonilla started in 2011, 10 years after he retired. He was a solid hitter, amassing 2,010 hits, 287 home runs and 30.2 wins above replacement during a 16-year career in which he played for seven teams, including a 72-game stint with the Dodgers in 1998.