Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

It's Bobby Bonilla's payday

NEW YORK -- It’s payday for Bobby Bonilla.

Near the end of Bonilla’s playing days, the New York Mets agreed to pay him $1,193,248.20 annually on July 1 for 25 years, beginning in 2011.

Bonilla was owed $5.9 million when the Mets agreed to that buyout.

The agreement called for deferred payments at an 8 percent annual interest rate. At the time, Mets ownership did not mind that interest rate because their investments with Bernie Madoff were returning comfortably more than that figure.

Meanwhile, believe it or not, the Mets annually make a second payment to Bonilla, too.

CBSSports.com reported in 2013 that Bonilla receives a separate payment for 25 years, which is the shared responsibility of the Mets and Baltimore Orioles and runs through 2028. The Mets reportedly are required to pay slightly more than half of the annual $500,000 sum, which stems from Bonilla’s original tour of duty with the Mets.

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