It’s the time of year where the Mets pay Bobby Bonilla for being retired

Each week, millions of workers around the globe look forward to payday. Getting a check, or seeing that extra money magically appear in your account, is always a good thing.

[On this week’s StewPod: Looking back at a fun week in baseball with Jeff Passan]

It’s probably even better when you’re no longer working. Former New York Met Bobby Bonilla knows the feeling well. Due to a strange clause in his contract, Bonilla will receive close to $1.2 million from the Mets once a year until 2035. Keep in mind that Bonilla hasn’t played in the majors since 2001, so he’s clearly doing something right.

That annual payday just happens to come every July 1. We’re guessing Bonilla is celebrating somewhere right now. 

So, how the heck did this happen? Following a poor season in 1999, the Mets wanted to cut Bonilla, but would have had to eat his $5.9 million salary in order to make the move.

Bonilla agreed to leave the club, but only if they deferred his salary, gave him an eight percent interest rate and paid it off over 25 years starting in 2011. The Mets agreed to this arrangement, and now Bonilla gets a open a check while sitting on the beach sipping on a Mai Tai once a year. 

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All in all, not a bad gig for Bonilla. He gets to enjoy the spoils of retirement and occasionally gets paid a fairly large sum of money. We’re not sure if this is another case of the Mets being the Mets, or Bonilla being incredibly savvy. Either way, we salute him for this one.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik