Dennis Gilbert (minors01)

Dennis J. Gilbert

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.
• School Los Angeles City College
• High School Gardena High School

• Born April 20, 1947 in Bronx, NY USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Dennis Gilbert is a former player agent with clients including Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Jose Canseco, George Brett, Bret Saberhagen and Danny Tartabull.

He played in the minor leagues from 1968 to 1971. An outfielder, he started off well, hitting .304 in 78 games split between the Waterloo Hawks and Jamestown Falcons in the Boston Red Sox organization. In 1969, he hit .259 in 56 games for the Visalia Mets of the California League. After not playing in 1971, he was with the Petroleros de Poza Rica in the Mexican League in 1972.

Gilbert was one of the most prominent agents during the early 1990s, negotiating what was then the largest contract in baseball history when the Mets signed Bonilla to a 5-year $29 million deal on December 2, 1991. He remained Bonilla's agent and when the Mets decided to let him go with $5.9 million remaining on his contract in 2000, he negotiated an unusual deal that deferred the payment for 10 years, then was paid in twenty-five annuities of $1.13 million beginning in 2011. In effect, Bonilla was loaning the Mets the money due him for ten years, with an extended repayment period at an interest rate of 8%. The deal was looked at with suspicion at the time, as Bonilla chose a guaranteed long-term income instead of taking an immediate payment that could have been possibly invested at a higher rate of return, but the financial crisis of 2008 made him (and his agent) look like financial geniuses, as the total amount to be paid, $29.8 million, was likely to greatly exceed what he could have made through investments had he taken the money immediately.

Further Reading

• Bob Nightengale: "For agent who brokered Bobby Bonilla Day, 'I'm just happy that he's happy'", USA Today Sports, July 1, 2018. [1]