Mets release former first-round reliever

The Mets released right-hander Phil Bickford Tuesday afternoon, as is reflected on the transactions log on the hurler’s MLB.com player profile.

Bickford, 28, was drafted in the first round twice during his days as an amateur; he was first picked 10th overall by the Blue Jays in the 2013 draft before ultimately signing with the Giants after being selected 18th overall in 2015. 

Bickford was shipped to the Brewers in a deal that landed the Giants southpaw Will Smith just one year after being drafted. He’d remain in the Brewers’ farm system until 2020, when he made his big league debut with a single appearance that saw him give up four runs in one inning of work. 

Bickford’s struggles in Milwaukee continued the following season as he once again received a call-up that lasted just one inning, this time allowing two runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsmen.

The right-hander would leave Milwaukee with a career 27.00 ERA at the big league level, but upon being claimed off waivers by the Dodgers in May of 2021 quickly began to turn his career around. The right-hander finished the 2021 campaign with a fantastic 2.50 ERA and a solid 3.57 FIP in 56 appearances with Los Angeles. 

That standout performance earned him a more permanent role in the club’s bullpen, though he’d come back down to Earth somewhat over the next two seasons with a rather pedestrian 4.84 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 121 appearances.

Just before the trade deadline last year, Bickford found himself shipped to the Mets alongside southpaw Adam Kolarek. Bickford entered his first offseason as a Met eligible for arbitration as a Super Two player, and New York tendered the righty a contract early in the season amid questions regarding the club’s bullpen depth. 

The sides were unable to reach an agreement prior to the deadline to exchange arbitration figures back in January, leaving them in line for a hearing the following month. Bickford’s camp submitted a $900K figure, while the Mets countered at $815K.

While Bickford ultimately won that case, going to an arbitration hearing in the first place meant that his salary for the 2024 season wasn’t fully guaranteed. The Mets cut Bickford from their 40-man roster last week and have now released the righty rather than assigning him outright to the minor leagues. As a consequence, Tim Healey of Newsday notes that the club now only owes Bickford 45 days of termination pay, which he adds works out to $217K. 

Not only will that save the club $683K in salary that would have been paid to Bickford this season, but when the club is taxed at a 110% rate on all spending beyond the highest luxury tax threshold of $297M at the end of the season, they’ll have saved just over $700K in taxes thanks to their decision to cut Bickford as well, bringing the total savings to nearly $1.5M.

It’s a similar situation to the one former Giants infielder J.D. Davis faced earlier this month when he was squeezed off the roster by the club’s signing of third baseman Matt Chapman. The Davis move stirred up controversy around the sport, and it’s unclear whether or not the veteran infielder will file a grievance against the Giants over the situation. 

That being said, Bickford’s case for pursuing a similar course of action may not be as strong as Davis’s. While the current CBA states that players can be cut “for failure to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability” if their contract was awarded via an arbitration hearing, neither Bickford’s 5.79 ERA across 4 2/3 innings of work this spring nor his 4.62 ERA in 25 appearances with the club down the stretch last year make a bulletproof argument for his abilities as a big league regular.

Looking ahead, Bickfor will now hit the free agent market for the first time in his career and figures to receive plenty of interest thanks to his solid work over three seasons with the Dodgers, though his overall lack of results at the big league level could leave him limited to only minor league offers. 

Meanwhile, the Mets will enter the season with the likes of Jorge Lopez, Drew Smith and Michael Tonkin to cover the middle innings for their bullpen, with the likes of right-hander Shintaro Fujinami and lefty Josh Walker among the club’s depth options.