Former Major League Baseball Star Bobby Bonilla is known for his unusual contract with the New York Metswhich will continue to pay him until the 2030s.
Now that deal is paying off in other ways, too.
The contract Bonilla signed sold for $180,000 at auction at Goldin’s on Saturday night. reported FOX Business.
The Mets released Bonilla in January 2000. He had hit .160 with four home runs and 18 RBIs the previous season when a knee injury limited him to 119 at-bats. Bonilla had two seasons left on his $5.9 million contract, and the Mets agreed to defer his salary at 8 percent and make 25 equal payments of $1,193,248.20 each July 1 from 2011-35, a total of 29,831 .205 dollars.
“This is a truly historic item and unlike any other contract ever offered,” the description read, according to FOX Business. “This contract is accompanied by a letter of provenance from Dennis Gilbert, stating that ‘I have owned this contract since 1993 and warrant that this is the original Bobby Bonilla copy.’
Bonilla hit .279 with 287 homers and 2,010 RBIs in his MLB career, which spanned from 1986-2001. He played with the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. Bonilla finished second and third in NL MVP voting during his years with the Pirates.
Bonilla, 59, will continue to collect checks from the Mets until he’s 72.
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