How much the Brewers are still paying Ryan Braun and Lorenzo Cain as "Bobby Bonilla Day" arrives

Ryan Braun's legendary Milwaukee Brewers' career came to an end after the shortened 2020 season. Lorenzo Cain's successful second stint with the Brewers ended halfway through the 2022 campaign. It's been more than four years since either All-Star outfielder donned a Brewers jersey, and yet today, the organization will hand each of them a nice paycheck.

July 1 is the day in which deferred money from MLB contracts must be paid out. The day has colloquially become known as "Bobby Bonilla Day," due to the New York Mets' infamous contract with the All-Star outfielder. The Mets, due to a poor decision to defer their buyout of the outfielder's contract, have been paying Bonilla $1.19 million every July 1 since 2011 and will continue to pay him that same salary every year until 2035. Bonilla is 63 years old right now, meaning, by the end of his contract, the Mets will be paying $1.19 million to a 72-year-old former player.

While no team wants to enter into a situation like the Mets have with Bonilla, where interest has forced them to pay far more than what the initial value of his buyout was worth, deferred payments have become more common in MLB contracts in the 27 years since New York fumbled the situation. Most famously, Los Angeles Dodgers' superstar Shohei Ohtani agreed to a 10-year, $700 million contract before the 2024 season in which $680 million is deferred. From 2034 through 2043, the Dodgers will pay Ohtani $68 million a year, despite him not necessarily being a member of their roster.

The Brewers' situation with Braun and Cain is not nearly as notable as the Mets' with Bonilla or as significant as the Dodgers' with Ohtani, but for the small-market Brewers, shelling out a few million to two players not on their roster is not nothing. Braun earned $1.8 million today and will continue to receive that same number each year through 2031. Meanwhile, Cain earned $1 million and will receive an identical payment next year before his contract is officially up.

Brewers deferred payments on "Bobby Bonilla Day":

-Ryan Braun: $1.8 million (owed annually through 2031)

-Lorenzo Cain: $1 million (owed annually through 2027)

"Bobby Bonilla Day" could become a thing of the past under new Collective Bargaining Agreement

The deferred payment system understandably has many baseball fans upset. Though that frustration doesn't really extend to the Brewers, who are utilizing the system at a very minor scale, the Dodgers' ability to roster Ohtani for $2 million on their present-day payroll has fans and the league wondering whether or not this contract option should exist.

In their most recent proposal to the MLB Players Association during their ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, the league added a clause that would eliminate teams' ability to include deferred payments in new contracts. The players, who will staunchly oppose any amendment that limits their earning power, such as the eradication of deferred payments, aren't likely to look favorably upon MLB's proposal, but among the many compromises that will need to be made, this feels like a rather minor one, and therefore something that could actually end up being a part of the new CBA.

Contracts such as Bonilla's or Ohtani's would still be paid out, so "Bobby Bonilla Day" is alive and well until 2043, when the latter's contract with the Dodgers finally expires, regardless of what MLB and the players association agree on this upcoming winter. With the looming threat of the elimination of deferred payments, some teams may push to use the strategy in contract extensions or early-offseason free agent deals while they still can before the new CBA is passed.

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