In honor of Bobby Bonilla Day, I took it upon myself to compile a list of all the baseball players earning deferred money for the 2023 season, and if possible, put together a lineup that could hypothetically have competed in an actual baseball game.
In total, there were 22 players making deferred money from 12 different teams according to Spotrac’s records, totally roughly $75M which is equal to the Pittsburgh Pirates and higher than the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics.
Seven players are still active, with six of them making money from their former teams while getting paid by their current teams.
Of teams to NOT have any players with deferred salaries, the two surprises are the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, two teams typically with the biggest pockets in the game. The Dodgers lucked into not having the embarrassment of having any deferred payments this year, as they have been known to employ the tactic in the past, but the Yankees, much like House Lannister clearly believe in paying their debts and not getting themselves into any deals that involve paying for guys once they’re gone.
The team that was most surprising to see with a deferred salary was the Oakland A’s, the de facto cheapest team in baseball, with $5M still committed to pitcher Trevor Rosenthal, whom hasn’t played a game since 2020. This accounts for nearly 1/12 of their dead-last $60M payroll.
The teams with the highest deferred monies are the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles with $23.5M and $15.7M tied up to guys retired or not on their teams anymore. These numbers account for 25% and 24% of their respective payrolls.
And of course, we can’t have a discussion about deferred money deals without bringing up the guy that relatively made the whole thing famous, Bobby Bonilla. By now, most people are aware of the hilarious $1.2M he is paid by the Mets every single July 1, seemingly until the end of time, or at least it feels like it, but not as many people are aware that he’s also getting an annual $500K stipend from the Orioles as well. That being said, Bobby Bo might not be the highest deferred payment on the list, but he definitely is the only guy to show up twice.
It took a little stretching, but it was almost entirely possible an entire roster from all the players making deferred money this year. I say almost, because of all 22 guys, none of them was a catcher or even anyone with even the smallest amount of catching experience in their careers, major or minor league. But we’ve come this far, and even though it’s technically not a full roster, let’s unveil the MLB All-Deferred Money Team, presented by Bobby Bonilla for 2023:
| Pos. | Name | Salary | Team | Retired |
| C | NONE 😔 | |||
| 1B | Chris Davis | $9.2M | BAL | 2020 |
| 2B | Dustin Pedroia | $2M | BOS | 2019 |
| 3B | Ryan Braun* | $1.8M | MIL | 2020 |
| SS | Vinny Castilla** | $107K | COL | 2006 |
| OF | Bobby Bonilla | $1.7M | NYM/BAL | 2001 |
| OF | Ken Griffey, Jr. | $3.6M | CIN | 2010 |
| OF | Manny Ramirez | $2.1M | BOS | 2011 |
| SP | Jon Lester | $3M | WAS | 2020 |
| SP | Bret Saberhagen | $250K | NYM | 2001 |
| RP | Rafael Soriano | $2M | WAS | 2015 |
| RP | Mark Melancon | $1M | SFG | 2022 |
| RP | Trevor Rosenthal | $5M | OAK | 2020 |
| RP | Darren O’Day | $1M | BAL | 2022 |
| Reserves | ||||
| 1B | Todd Helton | $1.3M | COL | 2013 |
| OF | Lorenzo Cain | $1M | MIL | 2022 |
*Reaching, Ryan Braun played 945.1 innings at third base, but in one season
**Really reaching, Vinny Castilla has 997.1 innings at short, but over seven seasons
In conclusion, baseball is a great sport, where even guys who aren’t active, and years and in some cases, decades past their playing careers, it’s entirely possible for guys to make a competitive living, and make way more money than doctors and educators and people who do real jobs for a living.
Until next year, Bobby Bo fans!
