Weekend Insights: The Importance of Good Negotiations

Every year on July 1, like clockwork, Bobby Bonilla collects a check for $1,193,248.20 from the New York Mets. He’s done so every July 1 since 2011 and will continue to do so through 2035. The date is so renowned that baseball fans everywhere refer to the date as Bobby Bonilla Day.

April 12, 1999: Bobby Bonilla #25 of the New York Mets swings at the ball during the game against the Florida Marlins at the Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Photographer: Ezra O. Shaw /Allsport via Getty Images

This is true even though Bonilla hasn’t played for the Mets for years: His last game with the team was in 1999. In 2000, the Mets agreed to buy out the remainder of Bonilla’s contract which was worth, at the time, just $5.9 million. Instead of a lump ...