After his subpar 1999 season, the Mets released Bonilla, but still owed him $5.9 million. Bonilla and his agent offered the Mets a deal: Bonilla would defer payment for a decade, and the Mets would pay him an annual paycheck of $1.19 million starting in 2011 and ending in 2035, adding up to a total payout of $29.8 million. Mets owner
Fred Wilpon accepted the deal mostly because he was heavily invested with
Ponzi scheme operator
Bernie Madoff, and the 10 percent returns he thought he was getting on his investments with Madoff outweighed the 8 percent interest the Mets would be paying on Bonilla's initial $5.9 million.