July 1 is collectively known as Bobby Bonilla Day in major league baseball, the day when the New York Mets cut a check to Bobby Bonilla for $1.19 million, part of a 25-year deferred payment schedule. As he entered free agency that offseason, he expected to cash in even bigger. Haywood couldnt get a guarantee on what would happen if the Rockets folded, so he jumped to the Supersonics for a $1.5 million contract that paid out over 15 years. Just in the last month, the 13% rate was negotiated downward to 12.3% in post-contract refinements. The key to the contract is the interest rates. --If the Braves are sold, the new owners would have to assume the contractual obligation. That means in 2022, the Braves still owe Sutter the $9.1 million that he deferred. One key difference between Bronner and several of the other agents interviewed involved the placing of a value on the Sutter contract. If you do a little bit of math, youll realize that 12.3 percent of $9.1 million is $1.12 million, which makes sense. Sutter was recently diagnosed with cancer and died in hospice, surrounded by his family, his son, Chad . Sutcliffes contract is structured on a radically different basis than Sutters, since there are no deferred payments. Honestly, Bobby Bonilla Day is a hallowed tradition, but we really ought to call it Bruce Sutter Day. Kansas City played Toronto in the ALCS in the same 1985 season. An unfunded liability is one in which the money does not have to be put up front. December 9, 1980: Cubs trade Bruce Sutter to the Cardinals Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. By, Photo by Nury Hernandez/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images, Photo by B Bennett/Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images, Jeff Swinger via Imagn Content Services, LLC, Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images, Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images, Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports, Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY, USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Content Services, LLC, Photo by Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Roy Dabner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Sutter only played four forgettable years with the Braves before retiring after the 1988 MLB season. He got $6.2 million in signing bonus and actual salary and then would have been paid around $32 through an annuity from 1990-2027. And Sutcliffes agent, Barry Axelrod of San Diego, said Sutters contract should not be valued at more than $10 million--the cash the Braves may put into it in the next six years. Sutters signing with the Braves turned out to be quite the investment for the 65-year-old, but their pairing led to very little on the baseball diamond. Two, the Braves have been the better run franchise for the last 30 years than the Mets. Believe me, despite what anybody says, it represents an incredible danger in organized sport., Reich said, At this point, theres a lot of concern about losses in baseball. Site Last Updated: Friday, March 5, 10:19AM Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? He didnt defer the Cy Young Award though, winning his second straight in 2019. He would get $4.8 million in straight salary over the next six years, $800,000 a year. In baseball, what other players have a contract similar to Bobby Josh Smith Good financial decisions led to #BobbyBonillaDay https://t.co/okI9LWMlIm. Rather than get all of that $9.1 million paid out in relatively even amounts per year, Sutter insisted that his money be deferred. Both the Braves and the Cardinals agreed to the demands of the former Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer. The Bruce Sutter Contract | Halftime Roomies - YouTube He cut the percentages down from me from 27 outs a game to 21, said Whitey Herzog, the Hall of Fame manager who traded for him. If the government changes to a flat tax in the next few years as the experts are talking about doing, he said, Sutter will get a windfall, because hed be paying at a lesser percentage rate than the 50% that prevails now., Neither the Braves, nor Bill Bevins, the Turner Broadcasting Co. executive who negotiated the contract on behalf of the club, would discuss the Sutter deal. But some agents think the percentage of the total deal that should be deferred should be held to a relatively low figure. Thats $7 million per home run! 68. The Atlanta Braves, fresh off an 80-82 season, decided to strike while the iron was mostly lukewarm, if you're being charitable. The Notorious JdGs delayed salary as part of his five-year, $137,500,000 contract goes live starting in 2035. Maybe thats a reason why the Orioles lost 108 games last year. As a pretty funny, and obviously unintended side effect, Sutter ended up getting his negotiated salary in both 1989 and 1990, even though he was retired. A specialist in content strategy, copywriting, and SEO, he has additionally worked as a digital consultant in the corporate services, retail, and tech industries. For more information, please see our There Are More Questions Than Answers in Bruce Sutter's New Agreement Sutter played for the Cubs from 1976-80. Deferred Payments Because Sutter wants part of his salary deferred with interest with a long-term payout, the contract with the Braves apparently will call for half of the annual $1.6. Although he gave Atlanta just 40 saves over three injury-riddled seasons, Sutter wound up a big winner. It led Holliday and his agent, Scott Boras, to claim he was getting $17 million per year, and it gave the Cardinals extra salary flexibility. Considered one . He also signed a four-year deal for $66 million in 2011 and deferred almost $10 million, roughly 25 percent. The last time Saberhagen pitched in the big leagues was 2001. Just a lawsuit, not Sutter going free agency. The funny thing is he retired four years into the contract, so got paid . In fact, he now plies his trade for the division rival Mets which means that starting this year, Washington will pay him $15,000,000 annually to pitch against them, per the terms of the seven-year, $210,000,000 deal that ran through 2021. The Silna brothers owned the St. Louis Spirits at the time of the ABA-NBA merger, when the NBA absorbed the Nets, Spurs, Pacers and Nuggets. Bobby Bonilla and the other strangest deferred-money contracts in sports Bobby Bonilla, eat your heart out. They wanted Bruce Sutter. Sutter only played four forgettable years with the Braves before retiring after the 1988 MLB season. His salary not accounting for some interesting structuring which well get to was the 10th highest in the Majors in 1985, behind guys like George Foster, Gary Carter, and Keith Hernandez. While Bobby Bonilla is the more famous long-term Mets salary obligation, pitcher Bret Saberhagen was the original. I have written 38 books and more than 20,000 articles about baseball, Bruce Sutter, who died Friday, spent his last, three years with the Braves ater signing an enormous free-agent contract. Bruce Sutter Passes Away - MLB Trade Rumors So until 2023, Heltons getting $1.31 million each year, plus 3 percent annual interest. Unfortunately DiPietro suffered a series of injuries, to his hips, to his knees, and even a broken jaw in an ultra-rare goalkeeper fight. He said he particularly takes exception to suggestions made in the press that the recent Rick Sutcliffe contract, which was reported at about $9.5 million, is worth more than Sutters contract and that Sutcliffe has thus become the highest paid pitcher in baseball. Bruce Sutter, split-finger ace and Hall of Famer, dies at 69 The deal: rather than pay Bonilla the $5.9 million . The best deal came for their lawyer, Donald Schupak, who got 10 percent roughly $1.45 million every year, just for putting the deal together. But Axelrod said the up-front payments serve his clients interests too--better than a deferred payment plan would. The Braves finished fifth with a 66-96 record, changed managers in mid-season, and got just 23 saves and a 4.48 earned run average out of the suddenly-mortal Sutter. Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. Young eventually settled the annuity for $1.4 million, presumably figuring it was better than what hed get after bankruptcy proceedings. We all know about Bobby Bonilla's infamous deal with the New York Mets but did you know that Bruce Sutter actually has the most expensive deferred contract in MLB . When the Orioles gave Chris Davis a seven-year deal for $161 million in 2016, they deferred $42 million over 15 years, meaning Davis will be getting checks until hes 51. Bruce Sutter Net Worth Of the remaining franchises, the Virginia Squires folded and the Kentucky Colonels took a $3M buyout, but the Silnas held out. Bronner said he does not know what financial state baseball is in, but he noted that baseball has a rule that clubs must maintain substantial assets to pay their liabilities. Bruce received $1.12 million for 30 years and he will get the final payment, full payment of $9.1 million in 2022. If someone said to me, we want to defer 55% of the contract into an account over which you have no control (a precise description of the Sutter deal), I dont think I could live with that. This story was originally published June 26, 2018, 11:17 AM. By the time the 25th and final Bobby Bonilla Day has come and gone 13 years from now, the man will have turned the $5.9 million the Mets still owed after releasing him with a year left on his contract into a full $29.8 million in deferred money as part of a peculiar with-interest compensation structure. Hall Of Fame Closer Bruce Sutter Made The Most Of Free-Agent Pact Where would the Braves be without Josh Donaldson. The Braves, meanwhile, lost 96, 89, 92 and 106 games in the four seasons Sutter was on the squad. RP Bruce Sutter (Atlanta Braves) Career: 1976-1988 Total deferred money: $42,700,000 Terms: Annual 12.3% interest payments of $1,120,000 for 30 years, plus full $9,100,000 in deferred base salary Last payment year: 2022 It's finally the end of the line for Bruce Sutter. six-year contract with Atlanta . They wanted Bruce Sutter. Though the Braves made up for it in a big way in the 1990s to mid-2000s, this team is still paying Bruce Sutter heaping sums of cash. The annual payments will be based on the theory that they have indeed put aside a total of $5.5 million on a pre-established schedule in the six years. Bruce Sutter - Bio, Death, Wife, Age, Family, Net Worth, Career, Wiki Ted Turner, then the mercurial and enigmatic owner of the team, had surprised the baseball world when he signed the star closer to a long-term but deferred contract after the 1984 season but never realized the dividends he expected. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. When doctor warn about the long-term side effects of steroids, theyre usually not talking about a retirement plan, but that seems to be the case for Braun. A six-time All-Star, Sutter led the National League in saves for five years and won the 1979 Cy Young Award. Bruce Sutter - Society for American Baseball Research . Thats right, two different deferred salary gravy trains back-to-back! In 2013, the Dodgers closed out their account with Ramirez to the tune of $30,000,000 three years after hed finished playing for them. Sutter played 12 seasons in the big leagues from 1976-88, including four years with St. Louis,. Brandon Sutter Trade Looks Even Worse for Canucks After Terrible Contract Bonilla is the most famous of many high-profile athletes who signed strange and elaborate contracts with payments shoved far into the future the Orioles and Nationals are currently dominating this field but the practice goes back decades, which is appropriate, since these payments extend for decades. Bruce Sutter salary, contract, career earnings. There are some negative tax consequences involved. Jones bounced back enough to play decently through 2012 and even made an additional $3.5 million from the Yankees his last two years. Sutter Expected to Accept Braves' $9.6 Million Offer 11. We assume that when clubs undertake these obligations they are making reasonably prudent investments, Fehr said. If the Seattle Mariners went bankrupt tomorrow, its clear the system would absorb the liabilities. Try a week on us. And the Braves were willing to meet his demands. Back in 1985, according to Fansided.com, the HOF pitcher inked a deal for six years that was worth $4.8 million and another $4.8 million deferred at 13 percent interest.