17 years ago, the New York Mets made what is one of the most bizarre deals in sports history.
On Saturday — and on every July 1 until 2035 — the Mets paid out $1.2 million dollars to Bobby Bonilla as part of the agreement between the two parties when the Mets deferred payment on the $5.9 million remaining on the deal. The deal, which ESPN says had an 8-percent annual interest rate, started paying out in 2011 and will eventually turn into nearly $30 million total thanks to interest accrued.
Weirdly enough, that's not the only deferred money left for Bonilla. According to ESPN, Bonilla also has some money coming in from the Orioles and Mets as part of an earlier contract that he opted to defer.
Quite the retirement plan for the former baseballer. To put the $1.2 million payment into perspective, Yankees hotshot rookie Aaron Judge will only be making $544,500 this season.
That will eventually change for Judge, but not for Bonilla, who will keep cashing those $1.2 million checks for another 18 years.
