The New York Yankees designated another former Los Angeles Dodgers reliever for assignment on Sunday, the team reported via X (previously Twitter).
On June 21, Phil Bickford’s minor league contract was picked for New York’s roster, and the veteran righty allowed eight earned runs in five innings of work. In a matching move, the Yankees picked Josh Maciejewski’s contract from Triple A.
The brunt of the damage was done to Bickford on Saturday, when he was charged with five runs in two-thirds of an inning of bullpen work in the Yankees’ 9-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
This is Bickford’s third time on the waiver wire in his career. He is out of options, so the Yankees have to designate him and risk losing him on waivers before the club can remove him from the 40-man roster.
Bickford leaves the Yankees with a 14.40 ERA, however the sample size was limited given the number of innings he worked. In portions of five major league seasons, he had an 11-8 record, a 4.70 ERA, two saves, 21 holds, and 208 strikeouts in 185.2 innings.
The former first-round choice of the San Francisco Giants made his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers before spending portions of 2021 and 2022 with the Dodgers.
