Mets' Phil Bickford will earn $900,000 this season after winning arbitration case
Barring any more signings, the Mets have finalized their 2024 roster payroll after reliever Phil Bickford, the lone arbitration-eligible player that couldn’t agree to a deal with the team, won his arbitration case.
Bickford, who came to New York in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, will earn $900,000 this season – $85,000 more than what the Mets had offered him in January.
The hearing took place on Monday with RJ Hernandez of ET Sports representing Bickford and Rex Gary arguing on his behalf.
After coming to the Mets in August just before the trade deadline, the right-hander struggled out of the gate. In 13 appearances that month, the 28-year-old pitched to a 7.36 ERA (1.57 WHIP) across 14.2 innings, although he did strike out 19 batters.
However, the tides changed in September for the former first-round draft pick. In 12 appearances, Bickford had a miniscule 0.84 ERA (1.03 WHIP) across 10.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits during that span.
In his first season in New York, the California native went 3-2 with a 4.62 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 25.1 innings after posting a 5.14 ERA in 42 innings with the Dodgers.
In his career, Bickford owns a 4.43 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 180.2 innings pitched. He’ll be fighting for a spot in the Mets’ bullpen during spring training this year, but he helped his case with that final month last season.
