Former Rangers Slugger Chris Davis’ Bonilla-Style Retirement
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Chris Davis may be retired, but his contract with the Baltimore Orioles ensures he’ll continue to get paid for another 15 years.
Former Texas Rangers first baseman Chris Davis has a retirement plan most people would love.
Davis, a Longview, Texas, native, hasn’t played baseball since 2020. But the final part of the contract that he signed in 2016 with Baltimore is about to kick in, according to Yardbarker, giving him a Bobby Bonilla-style annuity as the Orioles spread out the remaining amount of his contract over the next 15 years.
When Davis signed his contract in 2016, it was set up $42 million in deferred payments. Starting in 2023, Davis will receive $9.16 million per year for the next three years. Starting in 2026, Davis will receive $3.5 million per year for a seven-year period. Then, starting in 2033, he’ll receive $1.4 million yearly until 2037.
If that doesn’t add up to $42 million, you’d be right. According to Codify, Davis deferred the salary for the final year of his contract in 2022 — which was $17 million — to be included in the 15 years’ worth of payments.
So, Davis is two years removed from baseball and nearly a decade removed from his 2013 All-Star season — in which he was third in MVP voting — but will continue to get paid like a veteran player for the foreseeable future.
Davis started his career with the Texas Rangers in 2008. He hit .248 for his Rangers career, with 42 home runs and 124 RBI. The Rangers traded him to the Baltimore Orioles in 2011 for pitcher Koji Uehara to fortify their bullpen for a second run to the World Series.
Davis led the Majors in home runs twice while with Baltimore, hitting 53 in 2013 and 47 in 2015. He also led the Majors in RBI in 2013 with 138. In January of 2016 Davis signed the richest contract in Orioles history at the time — $161 million for seven years. While he hit 38 home runs in the first year of the contract, his power numbers slid over time due to injuries and he never hit better than the .221 he batted in 2016.
He retired in 2021. He received one of the louder rounds of applause when he attended the Rangers’ Hall of Fame ceremonies in August for his former teammate, Ian Kinsler, and Rangers executive vice president John Blake.
Bonilla played in the Majors for 15 years and is famous for turning the remainder of his New York Mets contract — which was $5.9 million — into a $29.8 million annuity that started in 2011. The Mets owe Bonilla $1.19 million every July 1, something baseball fans have started calling “Bobby Bonilla Day.” The payments end in 2035.
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