The Tigers are taking a low-risk, high-upside swing with right-hander Phil Bickford, signing the 30-year-old to a minor league deal that will bring him into big league camp this spring. It’s a classic flyer - no guarantees, but plenty of intrigue.
Bickford’s recent journey has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Once a promising bullpen arm with swing-and-miss stuff, he’s spent the last couple of seasons trying to claw his way back to consistent major league action.
From 2021 to 2023, he logged 179 2/3 innings in the majors with a 4.26 ERA - not dominant, but serviceable. His walk rate (9.5%) was a bit on the higher side, but he balanced it out with a solid 26.6% strikeout rate.
That kind of punchout ability always keeps the door open for another shot.
His most recent stint in the majors came with the Mets, where he finished out the 2023 season. He qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player and went to a hearing after a narrow salary dispute - Bickford filed at $900K, the Mets countered at $815K.
He won the case, but the victory was short-lived. Under the current CBA, arbitration salaries that come out of hearings aren’t guaranteed, and just over a month later, the Mets designated him for assignment and released him.
They paid him roughly $217K in termination pay.
From there, Bickford bounced around on minor league deals, briefly surfacing with the Yankees for a few innings - 8 1/3 frames, to be exact - in which he gave up eight earned runs. Not the kind of line that sticks, and he spent 2025 grinding in the minors with the Cubs and Phillies.
But here’s the thing: Bickford’s recent work in Triple-A has been quietly impressive. Since the start of 2024, he’s thrown 96 1/3 innings at that level with a 3.46 ERA.
More importantly, he’s striking out nearly 30% of batters (29.3%) while keeping the walks in check at 8.4%. That’s the kind of profile that makes scouts and front offices take notice - especially when you’re talking about a bullpen arm who’s shown he can get big league hitters out in the past.
For the Tigers, this is a no-strings-attached look at a guy who might still have something in the tank. Their bullpen isn’t locked in stone, and outside of Kenley Jansen and Kyle Finnegan - the only two relievers who can’t be optioned - there’s flexibility.
If Bickford shows well in camp or early in the season, he could pitch his way back onto a major league roster. He’s out of options, so he’d have to stick once called up, but the Tigers would also retain control of him via arbitration beyond this season.
At this stage, it’s a smart play by Detroit. They’re giving a former big league contributor a shot to prove he still belongs - and if he does, they’ll have added a potentially valuable arm to their bullpen mix without giving up anything in return.