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Motivation Quote by Bobby Bonilla

"I don't have a no-trade clause. I figure someone is going to pick me up"

About this Quote

There is a special kind of bravado in admitting you have no leverage and treating it like freedom. When Bobby Bonilla says, "I don't have a no-trade clause. I figure someone is going to pick me up", he is speaking from inside baseball's most unsentimental machine: roster churn, contracts as movable assets, and players as line items that can be rerouted midseason without warning.

The intent reads as pragmatic self-preservation. A no-trade clause is power, but it is also a bet that the team wants you enough to grant it. Bonilla shrugs at that fantasy and leans into employability instead. The subtext is a working athlete's version of optimism: not "they won't trade me", but "if they do, I will still have value". It's confidence stripped of romance, rooted in the marketplace.

It also works because it quietly reframes vulnerability as agency. Being tradeable can feel like being disposable. Bonilla flips it into momentum: movement means demand; demand means another clubhouse, another paycheck, another chance to stay in the league. That matters in a sport where reputations turn quickly and "veteran presence" can become code for "replaceable" overnight.

In context, the line captures the mid-career athlete's mental calculus: you cannot control front offices, but you can control readiness and self-story. Bonilla's sentence is simple, almost casual, which is the point. In a business that constantly evaluates you, sounding unbothered is its own competitive edge.

Quote Details

TopicWitty One-Liners
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Bonilla, Bobby. (2026, January 16). I don't have a no-trade clause. I figure someone is going to pick me up. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-have-a-no-trade-clause-i-figure-someone-is-135495/

Chicago Style
Bonilla, Bobby. "I don't have a no-trade clause. I figure someone is going to pick me up." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-have-a-no-trade-clause-i-figure-someone-is-135495/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I don't have a no-trade clause. I figure someone is going to pick me up." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-have-a-no-trade-clause-i-figure-someone-is-135495/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.

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I dont have a no-trade clause I figure someone will pick me up
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About the Author

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Bobby Bonilla (born February 23, 1963) is a Athlete from USA.

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