According to the New York Post, the New York Mets’ arbitration hearing with relief pitcher Phil Bickford ended in a loss on Tuesday.
Though it might not be much, Bickford prevailed in the split between the two offers. The team offered him $815,000, and he will now receive $900,000.
Bickford is not eligible for arbitration until 2028, and this was his first year of eligibility.
Last summer, Bickford was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the New York Yankees during the deadline. He had a 4.62 ERA in 25 games with the Mets, going 3-2 while saving one in 25.1 innings. He walked 13 and struck out 28.
Combined his results with the Dodgers to go 5-5 in 61 appearances with a 4.95 ERA, 76 strikeouts, and 39 walks.
Since making his Major League debut with Milwaukee in 2020—he pitched in just one game—Bickford has been in and out of the Majors. He was a 4-2 player with a 2.81 ERA in 57 appearances for the Dodgers at the end of 2021 after joining Milwaukee at the beginning of the season. He was lifted off a waiver claim by the Dodgers.
He played for the Dodgers for the entirety of 2022, going 2-1 in 61 innings with a 4.72 ERA.
In 179 games over his career, he has an 11-8 record and a 4.43 ERA.
Bickford’s high strikeout rate—he has a career average of 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings—will keep him in the running for a relief role. However, he has run out of options, so if the Mets want to keep him, they will have to assign him and take his changes with him on the waiver wire if he can’t land a job.