SAN JUAN, P.R.—One year from today, the Mets will add to their payroll a 47-year-old, past-his-prime power hitter who has a reputation as a malcontent—a player who has been retired from professional baseball for nine years and won't play another game again.
Nevertheless, starting on July 1, 2011, Bobby Bonilla will remain on the franchise's payroll for 25 years, collecting an annual salary of $1,193,248.20. Those are the terms the Mets agreed to Jan. 3, 2000, when they bought out the final year of Mr. Bonilla's contract.
"That beautiful thing," he said here Monday.
Because the Mets are repaying him with interest, Mr. Bonilla will earn $29,831,205 between 2011 and 2035—more than he earned in his first contract with the Mets.