Annual reminder Bobby Bonilla had the world’s greatest agent

Bobby Bonilla has not suited up since 2001, but it’s July 1 so we have an annual reminder of just how good his agent was.

Bobby Bonilla last played in the big leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. But as part of a deal attached to the $5.9 million the New York Mets owed him for the 2000 season (after releasing him in January of that year), Bonilla started getting an annual payment just under $1.2 million in 2011 and will do so until 2035.

The date of those payouts is July 1, so on Sunday, Bonilla added another nice chunk to his bankroll.

You’re probably thinking it would only take a handful of payouts from the Mets at just shy of $1.2 million to reach $5.9 million and settle Bonilla’s tab. But as ESPN’s Darren Rovell reminds us, Bonilla’s agent worked out a deal for the deferred payments at an eight percent annual interest rate. Upon completion of 18 more payments, that settlement will allow Bonilla to turn that $5.9 million into $29.8 million. If that’s not enough, there’s more.

The Baltimore Orioles also owe Bonilla a portion of the deferred money. The Orioles acquired Bonilla toward the end of his first Mets’ contract, a five-year, $29 million deal signed in December of 1991. Per Rovell, the two teams split a $12.5 million payment to come over 25 installments starting in 2004. So Bonilla has received 14 payments worth $7 million as of right now, with the remaining $5.5 million due through 2028.

Bonilla has already collected $15.3 million in deferred money. Over the next 18 years, he’ll get another $27 million. Revell also noted Bonilla lives in Florida, a no state income tax state.

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We’re getting to a point where Bonilla’s playing career is becoming a faded memory, for anyone that remembers it at all. But every July 1 until 2035, when Bonilla will be 72 years old, we’ll have our reminder of how great his agent was.