The Second Act Nobody Talks About
Every July 1st, Bobby Bonilla’s name floods the internet. The Mets‘ infamous deferred contract—$1.19 million annually through 2035—has become baseball’s punchline for financial mismanagement. But while everyone’s focused on Bonilla, another ex-Met is quietly cashing checks from Queens with the same patience.
Bret Saberhagen collects $250,000 a year from the New York Mets. He has been since 2004. He will keep collecting until 2028. That’s 25 annual payments for work he did three decades ago.
The pitcher’s original contract with the Mets spanned 1992 to 1995. When it ended, instead of cutting ties cleanly, the team structured a deferred-payment arrangement. It was supposed to spread the financial load. Instead, it created another long-term obligation that outlasts most front-office regimes.
How the Mets Made Deferred Money a House Philosophy
The Saberhagen deal didn’t happen in isolation. By the mid-1990s, the Mets were already comfortable with the concept of paying yesterday’s players with tomorrow’s money. It was trendy across baseball—a way to keep payroll flexible in the present while punting the bill forward.
The problem: when you do it twice, you’re building a pattern. When you do it three times, you’ve got a system. The Mets turned it into institutional practice.
Bret Saberhagen was a legitimate ace during his time in Queens. He won 14 games in 1994 and posted a 3.73 ERA across his four seasons. He wasn’t a scrub getting overpaid. The Mets simply chose to pay him over 25 years instead of settling the debt when his playing days ended.
Fast-forward to 2004—the year Saberhagen’s annual checks began arriving. The Mets had already moved on to new rosters, new philosophies, new ownership discussions. Yet there it was: a $250,000 annual reminder of a deal made before most current fans had season tickets.
The Math Nobody Celebrates
Here’s what makes this real: $250,000 per year for 25 years equals $6.25 million total. That’s not small money, even in Major League Baseball. It’s a decent relief pitcher’s annual salary today. It’s a backup infielder’s multi-year deal.
And it’s just one guy. Just Bret Saberhagen. The Mets’ organization has managed multiple deferred arrangements over the decades, each one creating a fixed liability that shows up on the balance sheet year after year.
Unlike Bonilla’s deal, which is flashy and famous, Saberhagen’s arrangement flies under the radar. Nobody tweets about it on July 1st. No sports talk hosts debate whether it was smart. It simply exists—a $250,000 line item that the Mets’ accounting department processes every year without drama.
That’s actually the more interesting story. The deferred contracts that don’t make headlines are the ones that reveal how organizations really manage money. They’re the quiet, structural problems that don’t generate outrage because nobody knows about them.
Why It Still Matters in 2026
The Mets’ deferred-payment history matters because it shows a franchise that struggled with financial discipline during critical years. The 1990s and 2000s were when the team could have built sustainable rosters. Instead, they locked in obligations that stretched decades into the future.
Bret Saberhagen’s annual check is a small piece of that larger picture. It’s also a reminder that every contract negotiation includes invisible consequences. The pitcher who seemed like a reasonable investment in 1992 became a permanent line item on the Mets’ ledger.
For fans, it’s worth knowing. For front offices, it’s worth remembering. The cheapest way to pay a player isn’t always today’s salary. Sometimes it’s tomorrow’s payment plan—and the year after that, and the year after that.
Saberhagen will collect his final $250,000 check in 2028. By then, he’ll have received $6.25 million from an organization he left 33 years prior. The Mets will move forward with new contracts, new promises, new deferrals. That’s how these things work in baseball. The past keeps getting paid, whether anyone’s watching or not.
The number: Bret Saberhagen collects $250,000 annually from the Mets through 2028—a 25-year deferred payout for a four-year playing career (1992-1995).
