Bobby Bonilla Day?

 

Happy Bobby Bonilla Day! Sort of...

Stop me if I've written this before. (Which I may have.)

But I have to point out that...it's not just Bobby Bonilla Day.

It's also Darryl Strawberry Day. It's also Bret Saberhagen Day. It's also Bernard Gilkey and Frank Cashen Day.

Let me explain.

You'll remember Bobby Bo. About the most disappointing and churlish free agent the New York Mets have ever signed, which is saying something. The man who once threatened a sportswriter, "I'll show you the Bronx!"

Incredibly, in true Cashmanic fashion, the Mets even brought Bobby Bo back after that wonderful soliloquy. This went even worse than his first stay, believe it or not, as Bonilla batted .160 in 60 games, and ended up playing cards in the clubhouse with Rickey Henderson while the Mets lost an agonizing, extra-inning playoff game to Atlanta

But I digress.

First off, let me just say that it's true: Bobby Bonilla is owed $1,193,248.20 every July 1 through 2035, for a total that far exceeds his original Mets contract. 

The payments started in 2011, and with an 8 percent interest rate, what they did was convert a $6 million-payment into (an eventual) $30 million. By 2018, 16 of the 25 players on the Mets' roster made less than Bobby Bo did every year. In 2019, the Mets' two best hitters—Jeff McNeil and record-breaking rookie, Pete Alonso—made less combined than Bonilla.

Bobby Bo attributed this stroke of good fortune entirely to his agent, a little-known insurance agent named Dennis Gilbert. Bonilla, in that inimitable way he had, called Gilbert, "a special man," and advised:

"Don't skimp on the agent."

Sure, it was the agent. The Mets' owners, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, nodded along darkly about how, yeah, they probably got took, grumbling something about "annuities."

What, a pair of successful NYC developers didn't understand annuities? They didn't have anyone in finance who did?

Wilpon and Katz, millionaire, Big Apple builders, got beat...by Dennis Gilbert?

It didn't make any sense.  And of course, when things don't make sense, usually, somebody is lying.

So it was here. 

As it turned out, the Mets were also deferring part of Darryl Strawberry's 1990 team option—and they still are. At 5.1 percent interest, they turned that $1.8 million into $1.64 million a year, from 2004 through 2033. 

Saberhagen (another lovely character on the 1990s Mets)? He's getting $250,000 a year through 2029. Gilkey was going to get $9 million a year—but Arizona took that money off the Mets' hands when they traded for him. Even Frank Cashen, their late general manager, was partly paid in deferred money.

Hell, there used to be a Bobby Bonilla Day II, with the Bronx's most charming tour guide getting $250,000 a year from 2004-2023, for a later deferment. (It was originally $500,000 a year, but the Metsies convinced Baltimore to split BBD II, as part of a deal.)

So what gives? Did the Mets really not understand how annuities work?

Turns out, the Mets were almost always ready and willing to defer contract money because they were getting more than that, guaranteed...from Uncle Bernie. 

Much as the Mets liked to later pretend that they were victims of Bernie Madoff...they weren't. And paying annuities at 5.1 or even 8 percent made sense—when they were guaranteed an annual return of 18 percent in Bernie money.

The Mets' big fear about the $300 million or so they made investing with Madoff, was that they'd have to pay it back. But they didn't—no more than $29 million in the end, and probably less. 

So happy BobbyBonillaDarrylStrawberryBretSaberhagenBernardGilkeyFredWilponSaulKatzBernieMadoff Day! I'm sure many more such days await us!