Bobby Bonilla might have one of the best agents in MLB history. When the Mets released Bonilla after a disappointing 1999 season, he was still owed $5.9 million, and they didn’t want their fourth highest-paid player in 2000 to be a guy who wasn’t even on the team. So Bonilla and his agent came up with an idea to help the Mets out. They’d defer the $5.9 million payment until 2011, with an 8% interest rate, and have the team pay down the balance in annual installments of $1.19 million until 2035, a total of $29.8 million. The Wilpon family, which owned the Mets at the time, thought it sounded like a great deal.
New Mets Owner Steve Cohen Suggests Turning ‘Bobby Bonilla Day’ Into a Big Spectacle
