Bobby Bonilla Day is an unofficial holiday in Major League Baseball as, every July 1 from now until the end of time (or, you know, through 2035) receive $1,193,248.20 from the New York Mets. This, of course, is ostensibly due to deferred money when the organization bought out Bonilla's contract in 2000, then agreeing to pay him the $5.9 million with interest from 2011-2035. However, the Baltimore Orioles wish they were only having to pay $1.193 million annually to their own contract debacle with former slugger Chris Davis.
Though most Orioles fans probably remember the rise and fall of Davis, it's worth recapturing. He came to Baltimore midway through the 2011 season and, two years later, finished third in MVP voting with a monster 53-homer, 138-RBI season. He continued his strong power hitting with 26, 47, 38 and 26 home runs over the next four years, respectively. However, the 1.004 OPS of the 2013 season cratered, only getting over .800 one more time.
However, the one time he did hit that was in the 2015 season when he posted a .923 mark. That also happened to be a contract year, though, so the O's signed him to a seven-year, $161 million pact. The next five years were abysmal. From 2016 through 16 games in 2020, Davis played in 534 games but slashed just .196/.291/.379/.670 with only 18 home runs per season. Baltimore then agreed to buy out the contract and now have a similar payment plan to Bonilla's with the Mets, but to the tune of $59 million instead of $5.9 million with interest.
The Orioles are paying Chris Davis $9.16 million in 2025
Baltimore is paying Chris Davis $9.16 million, almost a full $8 million more than the Mets are giving Bonilla, in 2025, just as they did in 2024, on July 1 as well. If there's a silver lining, it's certainly dim, but it's that the Orioles will see that number drop from 2026-32, when they pay him $3.5 million. The payments will still continue through 2037, though, as Davis will still get $1.4 million per year from 2033 through the end of the agreement.
What stands out, though, is that both the Orioles and Mets are still paying for what amounts to bad investments. In New York's case, then owners had invested in a Bernie Madoff account they hoped would ostensibly yield profits that would make paying Bonilla back easy over the 25-year agreement. Instead, the investment didn't work out. For Baltimore, the investment was simply in Davis, who is arguably one of the worst MLB contracts in the past decade. They held out as long as they could, but now they're still paying for what.
Even worse, the Orioles are quietly also paying Bobby Bonilla
It really adds insult to injury, though, that the Orioles are not only paying Davis, but they are also in-tandem with the Mets in that they are paying Bonilla too! Also on July 1, Bonilla gets another $500,000 from Baltimore every year and has since 2004. That agreement will last through 2029, when the O's will also still be paying Davis as well.
Particularly now with Steve Cohen owning the Mets, the tone around Bobby Bonilla Day has shifted. They have the money and they celebrate it as a contractual oddity. It's not quite as celebrated in Baltimore with Davis (or Bonilla), though. The lack of spending for the Orioles has been painful to watch in recent years, most notably this past offseason in letting Corbin Burnes walk and not signing an adequate replacement. Maybe if they weren't paying Chris Davis more than Cedric Mullins is making in the 2025 season, they would've had a little more money to burn.