Yankees sign struggling former first-round pick

The Yankees announced that Phil Bickford has rejoined the team on a new Major League contract, and the veteran righty has been selected to the club’s active roster. In the corresponding move, right-hander Michael Tonkin was designated for assignment.

Bickford first joined the Yankees on a minor league deal in April, and after that contract was selected to the big league roster in late June, Bickford posted an ungainly 14.40 ERA in five innings over five appearances before New York designated him for assignment. Upon clearing waivers in July, Bickford opted for free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A, and he’ll now head back to the Bronx after a little less than eight weeks on the open market.

A veteran of five major league seasons, Bickford’s high point was the 2.81 ERA he posted over 51 1/3 relief innings for the Brewers and Dodgers in 2021. Since that season, Bickford has a 5.20 ERA in 133 1/3 innings with the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees, along with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate.

There isn’t much to like about Bickford’s recent MLB track record, but he did pitch quite well at the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate this season, so the club had enough comfort to sign him to a guaranteed deal. Bickford is out of minor league options, and thus would have to be designated for assignment if New York wanted to move him down to Triple-A again.

On the surface, replacing Tonkin with Bickford seems like a curious move. Tonkin has a 3.38 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in 56 relief innings for the New York bullpen this season. While the overall numbers are solid, Tonkin has a 9.39 ERA in his last 7 2/3 innings and has been charged with multiple runs in three of his last five appearances. This includes two runs allowed over 1 2/3 innings in Saturday’s 9-2 Yankees loss to the Rockies, so Sunday’s transaction could be a way to get Bickford’s fresher arm into the bullpen.

Tonkin is also out of minor league options, which relates to the transactional carousel that has largely defined his 2024 season. He signed a $1M split contract with the Mets in the offseason, then went to the Twins (his original MLB team) after being DFA’ed in April, but was claimed back by the Mets shortly thereafter when Minnesota also designated him. He hit the waiver wire yet again less than a week later and was claimed by the Yankees, and Tonkin then achieved some stability with an extended stretch of time in the Bronx bullpen before now again entering DFA limbo. If he clears waivers, Tonkin can elect free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A, but he would have to give up the remainder of his guaranteed salary.