5 New York Mets players who could be traded before Opening Day

3) Phil Bickford's spot on the Mets is far from secure

Phil Bickford is a player who teams will not be calling about, but is a player who is fighting for his roster spot. The Mets acquired Bickford at the trade deadline as they needed arms to get them through the year. While his 4.62 ERA in a Mets uniform and 4.95 ERA overall in 2023 is far from pretty, there are a couple of reasons as to why the Mets chose to tender him a contract for the 2024 season.

First, Bickford has had success at the MLB level. He had a 2.81 ERA in 2021 making 56 of his 57 appearances for the Dodgers, and has made at least 60 MLB appearances in each of the last two seasons. While his Mets numbers don't look great on the surface he did finish strong, allowing just one earned run in 12 appearances and 10.2 innings pitched in the month of September.

While Bickford did enough to earn a chance to make the team, he's far from a lock to make it out of Spring Training, especially if the Mets add the extra reliever or two that they really should.

Bickford is out of options, meaning the Mets would either have to keep him in the majors or risk losing him through waivers if they wanted to send him down to the minors. If the Mets don't want to risk losing him for nothing, they'd look to trade him to a team that would roster him.