---
title: "Want financial freedom? Simply follow the financial logic of Bobby Bonilla"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/aa7c5b87-5790-4279-bbd1-04ab96d58629
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/want-financial-freedom-simply-follow-the-financial-logic-of-bobby-bonilla-2703175
category: "Finance"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2017-07-01T17:12:09.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:12:25.739Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/0b30f6b8d0eea73a2bcd3f35fa24454e2299.jpg
---

# Want financial freedom? Simply follow the financial logic of Bobby Bonilla

**TL;DR:** Former MLB player Bobby Bonilla receives a $1.19 million payment from the Mets each July 1st, deferring payment with an 8 percent annual interest rate. Bonilla will collect a total of $29.8 million from the Mets by 2035.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-07-01. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/want-financial-freedom-simply-follow-the-financial-logic-of-bobby-bonilla-2703175).*

## Story

Every July 1st, from 2011 to 2035, former Major League Baseball player Bonilla will forever be seen as a financial genius for deferring the $5.9 million the Mets owed to him in the 2000 season. Each July 1st he receives a payment of $1.19 million, even though he hasn't played professional baseball in 16 years.

Bonilla’s agent orchestrated a deal that deferred payment with an 8 percent annual interest rate. ESPN updated its annual celebration of genius (not to mention, Bonilla also lives in Florida – a state with no income tax). In a story titled, “Happy Bobby Bonilla Day! His annual $1.19 million payday is here” ESPN’s Darren Rovell wrote:

*With seven payments now in, Bonilla has now collected $8,352,737.40. There are 18 more payments due to Bonilla through 2035. When all the payments are made, Bonilla will have turned that $5.9 million into $29.8 million.*

*But that's not all.*

*Bonilla also has deferred money that is being paid by the Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, who took Bonilla for the final year and a half (1995 and 1996) of his first Mets contract, a five-year deal signed in December 1991 for $29 million.*

*The two teams split a $12.5 million payment which comes in 25 installments. That deal started in 2004, so Bonilla has received 14 payments worth a total of $7 million, and he will receive another $5.5 million through 2028.*

*So to recap, Bonilla has already received $15.3 million in deferred money. Over the next 18 years, he has another $27 million to go.*

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- General (sector)
- ESPN (company)
- financial planning (topic)
- deferred payment (topic)
- annual interest rate (topic)
- mlb contract (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/want-financial-freedom-simply-follow-the-financial-logic-of-bobby-bonilla-2703175). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/aa7c5b87-5790-4279-bbd1-04ab96d58629).