Inside The Twins

Why there's reason for Twins fans to be excited about adding Josh Bell

Bell isn't a flashy signing, but he's a solid pickup for Minnesota who addresses a need without breaking the bank.
Will Ragatz|
Sep 24, 2025; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Josh Bell (19) reacts after hitting a home run against the Atlanta Braves during the fourth inning at Truist Park.
Sep 24, 2025; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Josh Bell (19) reacts after hitting a home run against the Atlanta Braves during the fourth inning at Truist Park. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

In this story:

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are on the board in free agency. Their first significant addition of the offseason is veteran first baseman and designated hitter Josh Bell, who they signed to a one-year, $7 million deal on Monday.

Bell, 33, isn't a splashy signing or a particularly big name. Since spending the first five seasons of his career with the Pirates, where he finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 and was an All-Star in 2019, he's played for five different teams in five seasons. That includes two separate stints with the Nationals, which is where he spent the 2025 campaign.

But for a Twins team with a limited budget imposed by ownership, this is a solid pickup. They needed offense at first base and another bat with some thump for their lineup. And if there's one thing Bell has done pretty consistently throughout his decade-long career, it's hit. He's very limited as a defender and baserunner, but Bell's bat is legit. If he can carry over some of his production from the second half of last season, he might be an offensive upgrade from previous first base stopgaps like Carlos Santana and Ty France.

Across nearly 1,300 career MLB games, Bell has a .256/.341/.443 slash line. His .785 OPS equates to a 114 OPS+, where 100 is the league average. A 6'3", 261-pound switch hitter, Bell has a career .799 OPS vs. right-handed pitching and a .751 mark against lefties. He's a bit better from the left side of the plate, which is roughly 70 percent of his plate appearances will come.

Bell is sitting on 193 career home runs, with five seasons of at least 20. He's not going to replicate the 37 bombs he hit in 2019, when the balls may or may not have been juiced, but he's a safe bet to hit around 20 per year. And for a power hitter, he doesn't strike out at all that high of a clip. His career strikeout rate is 18.6 percent, and it was only 16.5 percent last season.

Last season, Bell got off to a pretty brutal start with the Nationals, hitting .137 with a .503 OPS through April. He was only slightly better for most of May. But starting on May 28, Bell hit .278 with 16 home runs, an .836 OPS, and just a 13.3 percent K rate over the final 95 games of the season.

His Baseball Savant page shows a guy who did real damage at the plate in 2025. Bell was in the 87th percent in expected weighted on-base average, an advanced metric that measure the quality of a hitter's contact. He barreled up balls at a high rate without having a ton of swing and miss in his game. Even with the slow start, it was his best season since he was a Silver Slugger in 2022.

Josh Bell's Statcast results in 2025.
Josh Bell's Statcast results in 2025. | Baseball Savant

Bell is obviously an imperfect player, which is why he's become a journeyman. Unlike Santana, he is not a good defender at first base. In an ideal world, the Twins will do what the Nationals did last season, which is use Bell primarily at designated hitter and mix him in at first base when needed. He's also one of the slower players in the league.

But Bell can hit, and the Twins needed another proven bat. He showed some meaningful improvements over the course of last season. And on a one-year, $7 million deal, he's an addition who makes a lot of sense for this Minnesota team.

More Twins coverage

Published
Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

Share on XFollow WillRagatz
Home/Minnesota Twins News