Bobby Bonilla's Mets Contract, Arguably The Worst In Sports History, Sells For $180k At Auction

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Bobby Bonilla's New York Mets contract, as in the actual piece of paper, has sold at auction for $180,000.

Specifically, it's the famous addendum to Bonilla's contract that has sold for close to $200k.

Following a not-so-great 1999 season with the Mets, Bonilla and his agent somehow convinced the team to agree to a deferred compensation agreement that would kick in starting in 2011.

Every July 1 beginning in 2011 and ending in 2035, Bonilla receives a paycheck of $1,193,248.20. Bonilla will be 72-years-old when he receives his last payment from the Mets.








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Bobby Bonilla of the New York Mets. (Getty Images)



The contract is undoubtedly one of the most unique artifacts in baseball history, and the winner of the auction paid a hefty price for it. The bid sat at just under $23,000 late Saturday night, but quickly reached the $180,000 mark before the auction closed.

The auction winner receives much more than the signed piece of paper as well.

According to the collectibles marketplace Goldin, the winner gets a 30-minute Zoom call with Bonilla as well as a separate call with his agent who brokered the deal, Dennis Gilbert.

The winner also gets to spend an entire day with Bonilla in New York, will attend a Mets game and dinner in 2023, and receive a signed baseball bat, and a Bonilla contract NFT.

Bonilla spent a total of five years with the Mets playing in a total of 515 games. He hit a whopping .270 in New York overall and just .160 in 1999 before inking his deferred payment addendum.









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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.