Deferred is the word on Bobby Bonilla Day

Despite having not played Major League Baseball since 2001, Bobby Bonilla will continue to collect more than $1 million annually in deferred salary payments through 2035. The deferred salary route has been replicated most notably by the Los Angeles Dodgers with stars like Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.

July 2, 2024 - 1:10 PM

Bobby Bonilla #25 of the New York Mets looks on during the game against the Montreal Expos at the Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York on April 19, 1999. The Expos defeated the Mets 4-2. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images/TNS

LOS ANGELES — 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.

But it was the Mets,…

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