3 ms·

The only dumb thing the Mets did was invest the money with Madoff. 36 mil was worth a lot more in 1999 than it is now, and even more than it will be in 2035.

The only dumb thing the Mets did was invest the money with Madoff. 36 mil was worth a lot more in 1999 than it is now, and even more than it will be in 2035. However, there's pretty much no chance Bonilla would have gotten the contract at all unless he agreed to this insane deferral structure. So he was still a winner in that regard. In any case, it was a great deal for the Mets except that they got scammed and actually lost all the money they thought they were going to make by deferring payments.

jeremyjh 3y ago
People who read the article will note that he already had a contract that the Mets owed $6MM on and were trying to get out of.
jsjohnst 3y ago
> 36 mil was worth a lot more in 1999 than it is now, and even more than it will be in 2035 I’m assuming you are referring to inflation, so $36M in 1999 is about $67M today, so nearly double. It’s fairly easily possibly that it’ll be in over 3x by 2035.
- jqpabc123 3y ago
  In 1999, the buyout on his contract was only $6 mil according to the article.
  - jsjohnst 3y ago
    I was responding to the quoted part ;)
jqpabc123 3y ago
36 mil was worth a lot more in 1999 than it is now, and even more than it will be in 2035. Time value of money ... and basic math. Bonilla only had $6 mil left on his contract in 1999. He will receive $30 mil by 2035 thanks to the 8% annual rate. That's a pretty exorbitant rate over the past 24 years when inflation only averaged 2-3% a year. The $6 mil Bonilla was owed back in 1999 is only worth about $12 mil in today's dollars. Fred Flintsone and the Mets lost their asses to Madoff and Bonilla.