This MLB Star Hasn't Played for 2 Decades but Makes $1.2 Million a Year. The Mets Have Bernie Madoff to Blame

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Bobby Bonilla (left) and Bernie Madoff

Bobby Bonilla gets paid $1.2 million a year by the New York Mets
The deferred payment set-up was influenced by an investment the team made with Bernie Madoff

Happy Bobby Bonilla Day! Well, maybe not for the New York Mets front office.

The Bronx-born slugger, now 62, has received nearly $1.2 million every year on July 1 for over a decade, and will continue to get payments until 2035.

So why is Bonilla, who last put on the blue and orange in 1999, still getting paid?

The answer has to do an error the team made with … Bernie Madoff.

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Bobby Bonilla playing for the Mets in 1993

Bonilla still had $5.9 million left in his contract when the Mets sought a buyout.

Instead of paying Bonilla the money in one lump sum, the team agreed to pay him nearly $1.2 million every year for 25 years starting July 1, 2011, according to CNN. The amount would also include 8 percent interest.

Then Mets owner Fred Wilpon believed he was making a sound financial decision because he was instead going to use the money owed to Bonilla to invest with Madoff — who later was revealed to be running a Ponzi scheme.

The deferred payment will see Bonilla cashing checks from the Mets until he is 72, and he will ultimately get $29.8 million from his former team.

Though irregular, and often less drawn out, these types of deferred payments are not uncommon.

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700-million contract with deferrals of $68 million payments starting in 2034 every year until 2043. Ohtani, 30, will receive $2 million per year until the 10 years are up.

Unlike Bonilla’s deferred payment, Ohtani’s comes at the negotiation of a new contract whereas Bonilla’s contract was from a contract buyout.

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Bobby Bonilla in June of 2025

Ohtani is not the only current baseball star with deferred compensation. Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer, formerly of the Washington Nationals, is also set to come away with a delayed payday.

Scherzer, 40, will end up with $105 million from the Nationals by 2028, seven years after he was traded from D.C. to the Dodgers.

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This MLB Star Hasn’t Played for 2 Decades but Makes $1.2 Million a Year. The Mets Have Bernie Madoff to Blame

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