2025 MLB Thread

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

D- Backs fan has good seats.

No. The following is true:

1. This guy is aggressive and mobile, seat notwithstanding.
2. The D'backs don't sell out, apparently, so empty chairs give him room to move. He pushes people out of the way.
3. He doesn't mind inserting himself into the game, celebrating as though he made a game-saving catch.
4. That last clip, in which he really goes overboard, shows that he doesn't care whether it's for or against the D'backs. He just wants the attention.

Besides, it looks like he hasn't changed his clothes in the past three years. All in all, a jerk.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

D- Backs fan has good seats.

Fan has been banned from Chase for the year.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Fan has been banned from Chase for the year.

So he can extend his streak next year!

[Cobra Mgr]

Guardians Luis Ortiz placed on leave amid MLB investigation No word on what the investigation is about. But I bet it is one of the Big 3: Domestic violence, pedophilia or gambling.

And gambling would be my 1st pick.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Guardians Luis Ortiz placed on leave amid MLB investigation No word on what the investigation is about. But I bet it is one of the Big 3: Domestic violence, pedophilia or gambling.

And gambling would be my 1st pick.

Marlins broadcast just mentioned this and said the investigation was about gambling.

[Déjà Bru]

Hey, how did July 1 elapse with no mention of Bobby Bonilla Day? This is from The Athletic and it may be old hat to most of you but did you know that Bonilla has two such contracts? Or that the Mets are also paying Bret Saberhagen in a similar fashion?

What is Bobby Bonilla Day? Explaining MLB’s history of deferred contracts

When the New York Mets flip their calendar to July 1, it’s time for them to send an annual check to Bobby Bonilla. Bobby Bonilla Day has become an unofficial, quirky and beloved annual holiday for baseball fans.

On Tuesday, Bonilla will receive $1.19 million from the Mets as part of the deferred payment structure of a former contract. From 2011 to 2035, Bonilla gets a check every July 1. Bonilla will be 72 years old when he receives his final Mets check.

Bonilla’s is the most famous deferred deal in MLB history, but other players have received similar contract structures, including Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

How did Bonilla get this deal, and who else has one? Let’s dive in.


Bobby Bonilla Day origin story

Ahead of the 1997 season, Bonilla signed a four-year, $23.3 million contract with the Miami Marlins. He won the World Series with the Marlins that year, but the club traded him during the following year to the Dodgers. Bonilla finished out the 1998 season before being traded back to the Mets in November, the franchise with which he was an All-Star in 1993 and 1995.

But Bonilla had a rough 1999 season with the Mets, marred by a tense relationship with manager Bobby Valentine and hitting .160 in only 60 games. The club wanted to move on from Bonilla in the offseason and agreed to buy out the remaining $5.9 million on his contract.

But instead of giving the right fielder a lump sum, the Mets and Bonilla’s agent, Dennis Gilbert, negotiated a 25-year deferred payment plan with eight percent interest starting on July 1, 2011.

Bonilla went on to play two more MLB seasons — 2000 with the Atlanta Braves and 2001 with the St. Louis Cardinals — before he retired.

Across 16 major-league seasons, Bonilla batted .279 with 2,010 hits and 287 home runs in 2,113 regular-season games, earned six All-Star selections and won three Silver Slugger awards. He played for eight teams.


Why opt for deferred payments?

The reason a team might want to defer a player’s salary or any remaining contract owed is largely to retain financial flexibility in the short term.

That is what made the Dodgers’ deal with Ohtani so fascinating: Ohtani will be paid just $2 million a year in each of the 10 years of his deal, then he will receive $68 million per year from 2034 through 2043, making Bonilla’s deal look like penny stocks.

Speaking of stocks, the Mets originally offered Bonilla the deferred payments of the $5.9 million they owed him because they thought they could exceed the deferral payments by investing that $5.9 million in Bernie Madoff’s fund, which, up until that point, had produced meaningful returns for then-Mets owner Fred Wilpon. Madoff’s fund, of course, turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. The payments owed to Bonilla remain intact.

As for Bonilla and other players like Ohtani, the value of the deferred payment is that, over time, the money accrued surpasses the money originally owed, even accounting for basic principles of finance that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar years from now.

If the player can afford to defer the payments (and is certain the team can continue making those contractually obligated payments well into the future, which is a safe bet with an MLB team), the payoff can dramatically exceed what the team could pay you in the present day, as Bonilla and Mets fans celebrate annually.


Mets’ reaction to Bobby Bonilla Day

Team owner Steve Cohen has acknowledged the intrigue surrounding Bobby Bonilla Day. After buying the team in 2020, Cohen suggested to a fan on X that the Mets could lean into the holiday and present Bonilla with a big check at Citi Field every July 1.

Cohen and the Mets have never done this, but instead, planned an Airbnb promotion in honor of Bobby Bonilla Day in 2021 for four fans to rent a VIP suite and spend the night at Citi Field.


Ohtani and other notable deferred deals

The Dodgers signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract in 2023 that included a series of unprecedented deferrals, paying him $68 million per year over nine years. The deferred money is to be paid out without interest and gives the Dodgers payroll flexibility.

Other notable deferrals:

• Bonilla: He has another contract with deferred money with the Mets and Baltimore Orioles, earning him $500,000 per year for 25 years. It began in 2004.

• Max Scherzer: The right-hander signed a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Washington Nationals in 2015, with $105 million in deferred payments. Scherzer, who last played for Washington in 2021, receives $15 million annually from the team through 2028. He currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Rafael Devers: The Boston Red Sox signed him to a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension in 2023, with $75 million in deferred payments. It’s paid in $7.5 million installments twice a year through 2043. However, the San Francisco Giants acquired Devers in a trade last month and assumed the remaining portion of his contract, taking the Red Sox off the hook for it.

• Chris Davis: The former Orioles slugger signed a seven-year, $161 million deal with the club in 2016, including $42 million in deferred money. Those payments stretch from 2023 to 2037 for Davis, who last played in the majors in 2020.

• Manny Ramirez: In 2001, the outfielder signed an eight-year, $160 million deal with the Red Sox, who agreed to defer $32 million over 16 years. He’s received $2 million every year in that span, and the last payment will come in 2026. Ramirez’s career ended in 2011.

• Bret Saberhagen: The right-hander retired in 2001 but still receives $250,000 per year from the Mets. The deferrals started in 2004 and will last until 2029.

[low]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Guardians Luis Ortiz placed on leave amid MLB investigation No word on what the investigation is about. But I bet it is one of the Big 3: Domestic violence, pedophilia or gambling.

And gambling would be my 1st pick.

The fact everyone was so hush hush about it tells me it's gambling. He just needs to throw his interpreter under the bus.

[Jordan]

Miles Mikolas has given up 6 HRs in his start today (SO FAR!), tying the record for most allowed in a start vs Cubs. Hope he breaks the record

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Jordan

Miles Mikolas has given up 6 HRs in his start today (SO FAR!), tying the record for most allowed in a start vs Cubs. Hope he breaks the record

My goodness, he's still in there through six, having given up 10 hits and 8 runs. I looked up the play-by-play; in the first, he gave up back-to-back homeruns, themselves sandwiched by two "flied out to deep right"s. He starts the second by giving up another set of back-to-back homers. Two more home runs in the third, which ended with a "flied out to deep center".

This is where I go the other way. I surely yank him after the third set of one-two home runs. Watch this manager do that tomorrow, when the starter has 98 pitches and a one-hitter. Today, though, he must be napping. Anybody check on him lately?

Update: The manager bestirred himself to replace Mikolas with John King for the seventh. Whereupon King gives up his own pair of home runs, the fourth inning with two Cubs pops and the third time for back-to-back dingers. Eight round-trippers in total. Watch for the headline tomorrow: "Cubs set new record. This has never been done before in MLB history." It seems like we see something like that every other day in baseball.

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

My goodness, he's still in there through six, having given up 10 hits and 8 runs. I looked up the play-by-play; in the first, he gave up back-to-back homeruns, themselves sandwiched by two "flied out to deep right"s. He starts the second by giving up another set of back-to-back homers. Two more home runs in the third, which ended with a "flied out to deep center".

This is where I go the other way. I surely yank him after the third set of one-two home runs. Watch this manager do that tomorrow, when the starter has 98 pitches and a one-hitter. Today, though, he must be napping. Anybody check on him lately?

Update: The manager bestirred himself to replace Mikolas with John King for the seventh. Whereupon King gives up his own pair of home runs, the fourth inning with two Cubs pops and the third time for back-to-back dingers. Eight round-trippers in total. Watch for the headline tomorrow: "Cubs set new record. This has never been done before in MLB history." It seems like we see something like that every other day in baseball.

The 8 homers were a team record. I guess the Cards bullpen was taxed, although I don't agree with that assessment looking back at last 3.

[Amazin69]

I seem to have been neglecting Rockies Watch of late. My apologies, Pile!

The Rox are currently 20-67, which equates to 37-125 over a full season. Still the worst since 1900, but at least they seem to have taken the 1899 Cleveland Spiders off of the table.

Should Colorado continue their recent 11-18 (.379) form since their 9-50 nadir, the Pile will go 28-47 in their remaining games, and finish an almost respectable (but still godawful) 48-114 for the year.

Key series this weekend, as the Pile host the South Side White Sux. Opportunity is knocking!

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

and finish an almost respectable (but still godawful) 48-114 for the year.

You and I have different definitions of respectable

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

You and I have different definitions of respectable

Where's that 90s MAD TV jingle of "Lowered Expectations" when you need it...

[Cobra Mgr]

Just turned to see the AL's worst vs the NL's worst. 2-2 in the 4th. Can the Sox complete the sweep of the Rocks?

[Cobra Mgr]

6-4, Boulders.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

6-4, Boulders.

Has there ever been another time when the entire nation was rooting for a team to lose?

[Cobra Mgr]

Nationals fire Mgr & GM

[Cobra Mgr]

Has the ATF registered Oneil Cruz's right arm?

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Nationals fire Mgr & GM

Damn, that's harsh. Rizzo had a lot of critics, but he pretty much built that franchise. Yes, he signed Strasburg long-time and traded Scherzer and both look like mistakes, but I'd think he'd earned being able to see this CJ/Wood team mature and see what he could make of them. Ah, well.

[Westheim]

The Scherzer (and Trea Turner!) trade was catastrophic for the Gnats. Keibert Ruiz has never hit, will never hit, and is all around terrible and they keep pretending he's not. Josiah Gray had a good season and then immediately had his arm come off. And the other two prospects in the deal were last seen playing in Mexico.

That being said, the Mets might have done worse when they shipped in Javier Baez.