The Yankees announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Phil Bickford, with left-hander Victor González designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Right-hander Yoendrys Gómez was also recalled, with a roster spot having been opened for him when right-hander Ron Marinaccio was optioned last night.
González losing his roster spot might come as a surprise, since his 3.86 earned run average on the year seems perfectly acceptable. But digging a little deeper, the numbers aren’t nearly as nice. He has issued 13 walks on the year compared to just 11 strikeouts, leading to respective rates of 13.4% and 11.3% that are both significantly worse than average.
His 55.1% ground ball rate is strong but his .149 batting average on balls in play is unsustainably lucky. His 5.93 FIP and 5.59 SIERA suggest that regression is coming, so perhaps the Yanks decided to quit while they’re ahead.
They will now have a week to trade González or pass him through waivers. Though his work this year has been fairly unimpressive, he could garner interest based on his past performance. He made 93 appearances for the Dodgers from 2020 to 2023, missing the 2022 campaign due to an elbow injury that required an arthroscopic debridement procedure. But in his time with the Dodgers, he had a 3.22 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 58.1% ground ball rate.
He exhausted his final option year in 2023, which likely motivated the Dodgers to flip him to the Bronx in the offseason alongside Jorbit Vivas for Trey Sweeney. That inability to send him to the minors will limit interest from other clubs, but he can be controlled through 2026, which may tempt some club to give him a shot. Since his service time count is between three and five years, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment if he clears waivers, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his $860K salary.
His roster spot will go to another former Dodger in Bickford. The 28-year-old has had a strange offseason. Acquired by the Mets from the Dodgers in August of last year, he qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player.
He and the Mets didn’t agree to a salary, going to a hearing over a tiny difference. He and his reps filed at $900K while the club filed at $815K. He technically won that hearing but it wasn’t a real victory. Under the current CBA, arbitration salaries are guaranteed if the sides agree but not if there’s a hearing. The Mets would only owe him 45 days’ termination pay if they released him prior to Opening Day and they did just that.
That led to a minor league deal with the Yankees in early April, with a $1.1MM base salary in the majors, likely prorated based on when he was selected to the roster. Since signing that deal, he has tossed 27 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.93 ERA and 29.9% strikeout rate. His 10.3% walk rate is a tad high but the punchouts are clearly intriguing enough to get him back to the majors.
Those numbers are fairly comparable to his big league numbers in 2021 and 2022. Over those two seasons, he had a 3.85 ERA in 112 1/3 innings, striking out 27.8% of batters faced while walking just 7.3%. Last year, his strikeout and walk rates both moved in the wrong direction a bit to 25% and 12.8%, which led to his aforementioned transactions.
He is out of options and can’t be sent back down to the minors without first being exposed to waivers. But if he manages to stick on the roster, he can be controlled for three more seasons beyond this one.
that was unexpected… hope Vivas works out because otherwise we gave up Trey Sweeney for nothing
I thought Ferguson was worse than Gonzalez and once again up and down with Marinaccio just trade him already if you’re done with him. You’re right Vivas better work out. I really liked Sweeny alot.
I’d assume them shuffling Marinaccio up and down has more to do with getting a fresh arm into the bullpen moreso than “punishing” him for poor performances or something like that. He’s probably one of the few pitchers on their roster that can be optioned so its either him or someone else that needs to pass through waivers or can decline being assigned to the minors.
Meh, Sweeney hasn’t shown himself to be anyone to lose sleep over. He’s getting clowned in the PCL presently. His glove says 3rd or super utility player, the bat needs to wake up.
I believe Marinaccio is the only BP arm with options. Sucks for him, but he will be back up.
Sweeney was under 100 wRC+ in the Dodgers AAA organization. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
Sweeney has an 82 wRC+ in the bat-friendly PCL.
Yuck.
BS
wRC+ accounts for the overall strength of the league
So, an 82 wRC+ in a bat friendly league should be equal to an 82 wRC+ in a pitcher friendly league
Yeah! He has a 82 wRC+ ! Show some respect
ung
The point, your head meme
Boone’s gotta have a cast of thousands to pitch one inning each
One ex-Dodger in, one ex-Dodger out…
Almost the whole Yankee bullpen is former Dodgers, so fitting that another former Dodger is replacing the former Dodger.
Better Dodgers than Rockies.
Burn them out, throw them up.
Or thomesing.
That’s too bad, Victor Gonzalez was supposed to be a lefty bullpen arm to help the Yankees relievers, his FIP isn’t pretty though…
11 K/13BB in 23 IP. That doesn’t look promising.
May I present to you, Crochet from the White Sox? Good bullpen longman out if the pen in a deep playoff run, I think he’d be a good asset for your Yankees.
I haven’t quite hit the panic button despite the recent rough stretch including tonight’s loss. In an ideal world, Gil and Schmidt would come out of the bullpen during the playoffs.
I expect another Bullpen arm will be added soon. Come on Cash, strike early, Tanner Scott or Crochett?
They did get a LHP. Hill.
That’s not the one I was hoping for
I don’t see the Yankees getting Tanner Scott or Crochett. Teams will see Yankees acting desperate and asking for Spencer Jones, Jasson or Arias.
As long as no more A’s Pitchers come to the Bronx, I am ok.
Alright Bickford with the comeback here’s to much success my ninja
That’s what he deserves after beaning Henderson on purpose and getting cheered for it.
Jealousy will get you nowhere.
Os will sign him the minor league deal and get him back on track
If the Yanks want to trade with the Mets we’ll give Severino and Ottavino for Loaisiga and Marinaccio
You’re selling the Mets way short. Marinaccio is a decent middle reliever. Severino alone can get more than that. Ottavino has a 3.11 FIP which indicates that his ERA should regress some. Loaisiga is a rehabbing, impending free agent so the Mets will be paying him for no reason.