A couple of days in the past, the New York Mets formally re-signed nearer Edwin Díaz to a five-year deal price $102 million, the most important contract ever for a reliever, by a large margin. The small print of Díaz’s contract are as follows:
- Díaz will obtain a $12 million signing bonus, payable as of January 2023.
- Díaz will earn a wage of $17.25 million in each 2023 and 2024.
- He’ll make $17.5 million in 2025.
- The star reliever may have an $18.5 million participant choice for each 2026 and 2027, however should resolve on each earlier than the beginning of the 2026 season.
There’s additionally a tidbit about how the Mets may train a sixth-year crew choice that will pay Díaz $17.25 million in 2028. Ought to they forego that choice, New York would owe their nearer a $1 million buyout.
Now, with a traditional contract, this could be the top of the dialogue, however that is the Mets we’re speaking about. Based on experiences, the Amazins will even be paying Díaz $26.5 million between 2033 and 2042 on prime of his $102 million (doubtlessly $118.25 million) contract.
If this sounds prefer it has occurred earlier than, it’s as a result of it has. In 2000, the Mets infamously supplied to pay Bobby Bonilla’s $5.9 million contract over 25 years with eight % curiosity beginning in 2011, hoping that the cash they invested in Bernie Madoff would repay monumental dividends. Spoiler alert! It didn’t. The notorious Ponzi scheme fell aside, and within the 11 years since they launched the outfielder, Bonilla’s $5.9 million contract rose in worth to $29.8 million. The Metropolitans are nonetheless paying that contract off in the present day, and can proceed giving Bonilla simply over $1.19 million each July 1 till 2035. It’s extensively thought-about one of many worst contracts in baseball historical past.
Now, the circumstances surrounding this Díaz contract are totally different. Mets’ possession isn’t closely invested in some pyramid ploy so far as we all know and there’s no promise of curiosity for Díaz, so the deferred cost preparations ought to keep the place they’re by means of the size of the settlement. Nonetheless, why would the Mets really feel the necessity to do that? Why not simply pay Díaz in full? Perhaps the Mets don’t need to spend more cash proper now. They’re already projected to have one of many highest payrolls in baseball, and including that extra $26.5 million over the subsequent 5 years ($5.3 million yearly) can be an excessive amount of for Steve Cohen. He has hinted that he doesn’t need to spend an excessive amount of greater than $300 million on subsequent yr’s crew.
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Nevertheless, that solely makes this contract marginally higher for the Mets. It’s clearly a fantastic deal for Díaz, who will proceed to earn $2.65 million yearly for a decade after he’s probably been retired for a number of years. Perhaps the custom of Bobby Bonilla had change into so ingrained in Mets fandom that they couldn’t let the meme die. Bonilla’s contract ends in 2035, and I don’t suppose it’s a coincidence that Díaz’s deferred funds begin only a tad earlier. New York will now owe former gamers cash yearly by means of 2042. No different crew is in a remotely comparable state of affairs. Name me a conspiracy theorist, however I don’t suppose that’s an accident. This was deliberate. The Mets understand it’s a foul deal, however they’re doing it anyway. That’s dedication to the bit, dedication to the Bonilla debacle, and if that’s really the case, my respect for Steve Cohen simply skyrocketed.
