3 Mets players who have yet to earn their 40-man roster spot

2) Phil Bickford

It hasn’t been a very fun offseason for Phil Bickford. He was the lone Mets player who went to arbitration. Although this process is sometimes taken to a little too much to the extreme, the Mets going to an arbitrator over $80K with Bickford does seem to suggest they aren’t the fondest of him. It’s interesting they even kept him around in the first place when Bickford was a non-tender candidate in the early part of the offseason. Just as Short has lasted this long with the Mets, Bickford’s presence is probably more about having a backup plan in case someone gets hurt.

We’ve already seen Bickford in regular season action for the Mets. He had the opposite results as DJ Stewart. Bickford was bad in August but when the calendar flipped to September, he was a much better pitcher. Even so, he’s not exactly a great fit for the bullpen. If he did somehow make the roster, he’d be on the bubble immediately.

The Mets haven’t turned to Bickford much this spring, allowing him only 3 appearances and 2.2 innings. The result has been a .417 batting average against him and 10.13 ERA. For a player on the fringe of making the team, it’s a bit curious they’ve been as avoidant as they are unless a decision has already been made.

With all of his minor league options exhausted, Bickford has entered future journeyman status. He’s the kind of pitcher who could bounce around with multiple teams in a year. The Mets will have to decide between him, Sean Reid-Foley, and Yohan Ramirez. Bickford has been the worst one this spring.