That Bobby Bonilla Contract Still Hurts

Deep reporting by Serge F. Kovaleski and David Waldenstein, examining exactly how involved Bernie Madoff was in the Mets’ finances. (Spoiler: He was very, very involved.)

It’s a weird twist of fate that the almost $30 million of deferred payments owed to Bobby Bonilla are once again a costly problem for ownership. The two sides agreed to that buyout eleven years ago — before the Wilpons were even full owners of the team — and it’s somehow only managed to get worse since then. It’s the contract that won’t die, a haunting specter shambling aimlessly, draining money for all eternity.

Maybe they should try to defer it again. Worked the first time.

As for more recent deferments, Cot’s reports that the $100 million dollar contracts of Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana contain large sums of deferred payments. I assume that money is now gone, or at least in imminent danger of being beamed up by Picard. Things just keep looking worse and worse for the Wilpons’ economic situation. I imagine spring training can’t start soon enough for them, if only so everyone has something else to talk about.