The story of the 2022 Major League Baseball offseason has been long contracts and massive sums of money being given to players.
The Philadelphia Phillies signed Trea Turner to an 11-year, $300 million contract. Aaron Judge signed a nine-year, $360 million deal with the New York Yankees. The San Diego Padres signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract. The New York Mets signed Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million contract. The Chicago Cubs signed Dansby Swanson to a seven-year, $177 million deal. And the Mets capped it off with a reported agreement of a 12-year, $315 million contract with Carlos Correa on Wednesday.
Some MLB fans believe the spending and the amount of years given has been excessive. Those people probably should familiarize themselves with Bobby Bonilla.
The 1997 World Series champion had two tenures with the Mets. In his first run in New York, he was the highest-paid National League player from 1992 to 1994 and made the All-Star game two times. Bonilla returned to the Mets in 1998 after the Los Angeles Dodgers traded him during the season.
This was an even more contentious time in New York that included an infamous incident where Bonilla and Ricky Anderson allegedly were in the clubhouse playing cards while the Mets lost Game 6 of the NL Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves.
New York released Bonilla after the 1999 season, but it still owed him $5.9 million. Bonilla and his agent Dennis Gilbert worked out the contract addendum with the Mets. The team agreed to pay Bonilla $1.19 million every July 1 from 2011 through 2035, when he will be 72 years old. This agreement is why some fans have deemed July 1 to be “Bobby Bonilla Day.” The contract is so infamous that it was part of an auction package that sold for $180,000.
Also, if you’re doing the math, this means Correa’s reported deal, despite it being 12 years, still will expire before Bonilla’s — Correa’s will expire in 2034.
So before you criticize MLB teams for spending too much or locking up players for too long, just think about Bonilla and his crazy contract.
