Mets Still Owe Bobby Bonilla $29.75 Million

by

Feb 10, 2010

Things were pretty bad for Steve Phillips a couple months ago, when you couldn't go to any Web site without seeing his name splashed across the scandalous headlines. For the most part, the worst is now over for Phillips, but there is one mistake from his past that isn't going away anytime soon.

When he was the general manager of the Mets, Phillips made some bad deals. Aging stars like Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar come to mind as examples, but one deal was so bad that it will stand the test of time – literally.

As pointed out by Philly.com's Phillies Zone in January, the Mets will be paying Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million on July 1, 2011. They will then pay Bonilla another $1.19 million on July 1, 2012. And 2013, 2014 and 2015. All the way until July 1, 2035, when Bonilla will be 72 years old and the Mets could be 13 games out of first place.

According to BaseballLibrary.com, the Mets opted to offer Bonilla the deferred payments instead of paying him his $5.9 million salary in 2000. The kicker? Bonilla played in a total of 60 Mets games in 1999, hitting .160 with four home runs and 18 RBIs in his second go-round with the team.

If you're a Red Sox fan and you're looking for a good chuckle, you might want to wait. Manny Ramirez will be owed $30 million by the Red Sox. That amount will be paid out in 16 payments of $1.94 million, made annually from 2011-2026.

At least the Red Sox have a pair of World Series titles to show for it. The Mets? They would probably just prefer to have their money back.

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