Bobby Bonilla is the face of deferred contracts, but now he has a rival in that area as of this week. It comes in the form of what Chris Davis agreed to with the Baltimore Orioles.
Prior to signing a seven-year, $161 million contract with the organization, Davis led the MLB with 47 home runs in 2015. He never lived up to anything after signing that deal and it put the Orioles in a tough spot.
He and the team mutually agreed to deferred payments that will pay him substantially over the next 15 years. He’s reportedly set to earn over $9 million from 2023-25, $3.5 million from 2026-32 and $1.4 million from 2033-37.
In his first season with the new deal, Davis did knock 38 homers out of the ball park but he also led the majors with 219 strikeouts. He had 208 the year prior, which also led the league.
From 2012 to 2016, he hit 197 homers in 743 games, an average of 39 a season, and the most in baseball in that span.
However, from 2017 to 2020, he failed to play in 130 games in each season, and he hit just .185 with a .615 OPS, striking out in 37.4 percent of his plate appearances, via Fox News.
He would officially hang up his cleats in 2021 after missing the entire year with injuries.
