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photo: GETTY IMAGES (BOBBY BONILLA) OVERVIEW The New York Mets will pay retired player Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million a year for 25 years under terms of a buyout agreement signed in 2000 Postponing the payments for 11 years allowed the Mets to afford other high-priced talent that year, and they reached the World Series But the long-term value of the buyout remains in question; the Mets have reached the post-season only once since 2000, and the Bonilla deal will cost them nearly $30 million with interest. LINKS |
Payoff Pitch
By MIKE SIELSKI
Next summer, the New York Mets will add a big-name veteran to their payroll: Bobby Bonilla, a 47-year-old, onetime power hitter who has been retired from professional baseball for nine years and won’t play another game. He’ll be making an annual salary of $1,193,248.20—for the next 25 years. Those are the terms the Mets agreed to back in 2000, when they bought out the final year of Mr. Bonilla’s contract. “That beautiful thing,” Mr. Bonilla At his best, Mr. Bonilla was a versatile player and productive hitter during his 16 years in the major leagues. Seven times, he hit at least 20 home runs in a season. Four times, he drove in at least 100 runs. He played third base, first base and the outfield at various stages of his career. He was on six playoff teams and won a World Series in 1997 with the Florida Marlins. But his career with the Mets was marked by controversy and unmet expectations. When Mets fans think of Mr. Bonilla and outsize contracts, they usually remember the free-agent deal he signed with the team in December 1991—a five-year, $29 million agreement that made him the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball. He then became the emblem for one of the worst periods in the franchise’s history; the Mets were a combined 75 games under .500 over Mr. Bonilla’s first three full seasons before they traded him to the Baltimore Orioles in July 1995. PLAYING CARDS But it was actually Mr. Bonilla’s second free-agent contract that led to his upcoming financial windfall. He signed with the Marlins in 1996 for four years and $23.3 million. After Florida traded Mr. Bonilla to the Los Angeles Dodgers in May 1998, the Mets then re-acquired him in a trade that following off-season. Mr. Bonilla’s second tenure with the Mets was shorter, but no better, than his first. He hit just .160 with four home runs in 60 games in 1999. He feuded with manager Bobby Valentine. In perhaps his most memorable transgression, he played cards with teammate Rickey Henderson as the Mets lost the deciding game of the National League Championship Series in Atlanta. The Mets didn’t want him around any longer, and Mr. Bonilla wanted the freedom to pursue another contract with another team, but the Mets were still on the hook for the $5.9 million due Mr. Bonilla in 2000. They were so eager to be rid of him that they agreed to defer payment—with interest. Dennis Gilbert, who had represented Mr. Bonilla earlier in Mr. Bonilla’s career and remains one of his friends, said in a phone interview that there was no need for Mr. Bonilla to strong-arm the Mets into such a lucrative buyout. “Both sides thought it was a good idea,” he says. In fact, according to Mr. Gilbert, the only real sticking point in the deal was the interest rate. The two sides eventually agreed on 8%. Years earlier, Mr. Gilbert had negotiated with the Mets a similar deal for Bret Saberhagen, who pitched for the team from 1992 to 1995. For 25 years starting in 2004, Mr. Saberhagen receives annual deferred payments of $250,000. So when the Mets decided to buy out Mr. Bonilla’s contract, they had a template already in place for such an agreement. By postponing their payments to Mr. Bonilla for 11 years, the Mets freed enough money to trade for starting pitcher Mike Hampton and outfielder Derek Bell and sign first baseman Todd Zeile. Those three players earned a combined $15.1 million in 2000, and the Mets reached the World Series that year. THE VALUE OF INCOME But the team has reached the postseason only once since, and it can be argued that the short-term gain of the arrangement with Mr. Bonilla wasn’t worth the long-term cost. Because the Mets are repaying him with interest, Mr. Bonilla will earn $29,831,205 between 2011 and 2035—more than he earned in his first contract with the Mets. When the payments stop, he’ll be 72. “Bobby’s a very smart person,” Mr. Gilbert said, “and he understands the value of income.” Mr. Bonilla was at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, recently for a three-game series between the Mets and Marlins, two of the eight teams he played for during his career. He spent time mingling with players and coaches. Mets rightfielder Jeff Francoeur, the team’s representative to the players union, chatted with Mr. Bonilla in the Mets’ clubhouse. Mr. Francoeur said he was unaware of Mr. Bonilla’s deal and had never heard of such a contract. “But it’s awesome,” he said. “You pull something off like that, and later on you don’t have to worry.”
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