BREAKING: Twins Sign First Baseman Josh Bell to One-Year Deal

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Brad Mills-Imagn Images

The Twins and slugger Josh Bell agreed to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027, sources confirmed to Twins Daily Monday morning. The first report of the deal came from ESPN's Jeff Passan, on Twitter. Bell, 33, is a 10-year veteran. A switch-hitter, he can serve as both a first baseman and a DH for the offense-hungry Twins.

Last season, Bell hit .237/.325/.417 for a moribund Nationals team, with 22 home runs in 533 plate appearances. He was a prized selection in the 2011 MLB Draft, but his career has been more peripatetic than expected. A hulking figure in the batter's box, he's nonetheless struggled to consistently generate high-level power. He's a fine (but not spectacular) defender at first base, but most of his value comes from his bat. Bell controls the strike zone well, makes more frequent contact than most hitters of his size and strength, and has the ability to hit the ball exceptionally hard. For most of his career, the limiting factor has been a tendency to hit too many ground balls.

While Bell's raw numbers for 2025 might appear underwhelming, though, there was a material change this season. From each side of the plate, he increased his bat speed by roughly 2.5 miles per hour and moved his exceptionally deep contact point a bit farther in front of his frame. Those changes make it easier to project strong production from him in 2026, as long as he can maintain those gains for the Twins.

For the Twins, an addition like this one this winter was almost inevitable. They were too thin offensively in 2025, and were especially below-average at the positions where the defensive demands are least and the offensive standards highest. Bell is not a star, at this stage of his career, but he's a positive clubhouse presence and a versatile offensive piece, capable of slotting into the middle of the lineup for Minnesota regardless of the handedness of that day's starting pitcher. He nudges Kody Clemens (among others) further toward roles for which they're better-suited, slightly shielded from same-handed pitching. If the Twins want to contend in 2026, this is the type of signing of wbich they need a couple more over the balance of the offseason.

UPDATE: Jon Heyman of the New York Post says the deal is worth $7 million.

 

Bell was always likely to sign for somewhere between $5 million and $10 million, on a one-year deal. The mutual option doesn't alter the functional length of the deal; it will just slide a portion of his salary out past the end of the 2026 season, when the Twins can pay it as a buyout on the option year. Bob Nightengale of USA Today has the full breakdown, along with his son, Star Tribune Twins beat reporter Bobby.

That's quite cheap, as a total package. The Twins should have room, given recent reports about the extent of their financial flexibility amid an ownership transition, to make further additions at the margins of the roster. Bell is a solid pickup, and needn't be the only or even primary one of the winter.

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[Rhyno006]

Seems to be a very Twins-like signing. Not flashy, but ok. Fills a need. Probably not very spendy. I bet he's a good clubhouse guy.

/shrugs

 

[NYCTK]

Yeah. Sure. Fine. 

[dberthia]

Don't know much about him. He looks to be a Sano type, but with a 50 point higher average and is a switch hitter. We could've done worse (like Sano).

[UK Twin]

Ok. Not a signing that has me overwhelmed but it's a solid addition. If he can hit more fly balls he's got the power to hit 30+ HR's. 

[mike8791]

A reasonable pickup who fits Twins needs at both IB/DH.  While not the much-needed cleanup hitter needed, his presence should be an improvement over Clemens.  Plus this signing should leave ample room in the budget for maybe two bullpen additions + a utility mid infielder.  Not a game changer, but at least the FO did not wait for dumpster diving time.  One can onlky look for some incremental moves from this ownership.

[nicksaviking]

"signing a veteran slugger to play first base and shore up an inconsistent offense."

Isn't Josh Bell notorious for being inconsistent?

Unpredictable slumps is pretty standard for Twins hitters though, so I guess it must be a trait they've identified and prefer? I much prefer him over Clemens, so I guess that's progress.

[Nashvilletwin]

You just can’t make this up.  Just what we need - a 33 year old on the last legs of his career blocking critical innings and ABs from our younger players.

This is a great signing. Our win projection in ‘26 just skyrocketed to 72 from 71. lol. 

Are we honestly supposed to get emotionally invested as a fan in another one year rental retread player?  Haven’t we seen enough of this?

I’m done blaming Falvey. He is who he is and you can’t blame him for trying to save his career, let alone his job.  Moves like this are the fault of the Nephew.

What a clown show this franchise is. 

[NYCTK]

1 minute ago, Nashvilletwin said:

You just can’t make this up.  Just what we need - a 33 year old on the last legs of his career blocking critical innings and ABs from our younger players.

Who is he blocking? 

The reason this is completely inoffensive, if unexciting, is because there is no one. 

[DJL44]

I don't understand moving early to secure a contract with Josh Bell. He's another DH on a team full of DH. His sprint speed was 7th percentile (slower than everyone but Christian Vazquez). His arm strength ranked at the absolute bottom. He's been a below average defender at first for his entire career.  It's an improvement on Edouard Julien but not much of one.

I really hope this didn't cost more than $4M.

[Nashvilletwin]

A “substantial addition”? Seriously?  C’mon, we can do better than that Matthew.

[Cory Engelhardt]

8 minutes ago, dberthia said:

Don't know much about him. He looks to be a Sano type, but with a 50 point higher average and is a switch hitter. We could've done worse (like Sano).

Certainly doesn't strike out anywhere near as much as Sano or Gallo or Wallner.

[danielp19653]

if he's been worth -.3 WAR for the last 3 years, and 1 WAR is roughly 11 million in FA, does he have to pay the Pohlads to sign here? If so this makes a lot of sense.

[Nashvilletwin]

1 minute ago, NYCTK said:

Who is he blocking? 

The reason this is completely inoffensive, if unexciting, is because there is no one. 

Yes, I agree, 1B/DH was our most obvious position player of need. But there are cascading effects to these signings. Here are a few, many of which with I’m sure you will disagree:

1. Wallner DH opportunities. 
2. Julien ABs. (some of us would like to see what he has under new leadership).
3. Possibly Keaschall innings at both 2B and 1B. 
4. Delayed call ups later in the year around the fringes.

He’s just one more guy who will 100% not move the dial taking innings and ABs. Like so many before him. 

[Linus]

Business as usual. There were two obvious spots where we could acquire a difference making bat - first base and one of the corner outfield spots. I guess that’s not happening. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

2 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Yes, I agree, 1B/DH was our most obvious position player of need. But there are cascading effects to these signings. Here are a few, many of which with I’m sure you will disagree:

1. Wallner DH opportunities. 
2. Julien ABs. (some of us would like to see what he has under new leadership).
3. Possibly Keaschall innings at both 2B and 1B. 
4. Delayed call ups later in the year around the fringes.

He’s just one more guy who will 100% not move the dial taking innings and ABs. Like so many before him. 

I think Wallner and especially Julien are getting to a place where they have to show they fit on this roster. LOTS of moves coming this offseason in my opinion, and that's why they got this one done earlier than they typically start to make moves.

I also get the sense that Keaschall is going to be in the outfield more than the infield this year. Curious how that makes the infield shake out.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Well, we now know who the 2026 First Baseman AL Gold Glove award winner will be.

[jmlease1]

4 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Yes, I agree, 1B/DH was our most obvious position player of need. But there are cascading effects to these signings. Here are a few, many of which with I’m sure you will disagree:

1. Wallner DH opportunities. 
2. Julien ABs. (some of us would like to see what he has under new leadership).
3. Possibly Keaschall innings at both 2B and 1B. 
4. Delayed call ups later in the year around the fringes.

He’s just one more guy who will 100% not move the dial taking innings and ABs. Like so many before him. 

well, it's been proven that Josh Bell is very tradable at the deadline, even when he's not been producing.

But he's not really blocking anyone: there's still room for Wallner to DH, Julien hasn't shown enough in the past 2 seasons to say he's being blocked from anything (and I say this as someone who spent a lot of time defending Julien), Keaschall is going to get every opportunity to take 2B and run with it (and I'd much rather have him do that than already get shifted to 1B or the OF), and the real issue on guys not getting called up is a punk like Outman or continuing to roll with Larnach.

If we get AZ Josh Bell, we're going to be pretty happy. There's some indicators that Bell was a little unlucky in Washington last season as well.

Curious as to the terms, but I don't hate this move, especially if it means that Clemens isn't starting at 1B against LHP...

[nicksaviking]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I don't understand moving early to secure a contract with Josh Bell. He's another DH on a team full of DH. His sprint speed was 7th percentile (slower than everyone but Christian Vazquez). His arm strength ranked at the absolute bottom. He's been a below average defender at first for his entire career.  It's an improvement on Edouard Julien but not much of one.

I really hope this didn't cost more than $4M.

This doesn't excite me, but I can't imagine there was going to be any first baseman signing that was going to be a boon to the Twins sprint speed.

And I care about the arm strength of a first baseman slightly more than I care about his cribbage skills.

[Rigby]

Boras always has a mark in Falvey...

[bunsen82]

Give Bell a little more credit.  His 2nd half stats were really good - The first half not so much.   He is known to be a bit of a streaker hitter.  His best seasons were 2022 and 2021.  Shelton has experience with him though- 6 years ago.  He doesn't move the needle a ton though,  unless his batting average is above .260.   Now how much did we pay him,  that is the question.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

Out of the first base options, this is the one I preferred at this price range (O'Hearn is a better player, but the Twins probably shouldn't be handing out a two-year contract to him).

Bell is an absolute butcher in the field. I'm not sure he actually wears his glove on the correct hand, or even that he has ten fingers.

Which means he should be playing a lot of DH, and then occasionally playing first when Kody Clemens is benched against a lefty.

[dogman]

21 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I don't understand moving early to secure a contract with Josh Bell. He's another DH on a team full of DH. His sprint speed was 7th percentile (slower than everyone but Christian Vazquez). His arm strength ranked at the absolute bottom. He's been a below average defender at first for his entire career.  It's an improvement on Edouard Julien but not much of one.

I really hope this didn't cost more than $4M.

Good fillin seeing we may not have a 2027 season or until the top guys in the minors are ready maybe later in the season next year.

[bean5302]

Typical Falvey move. Spend money to spend money. Make sure to add nothing while spending it, hope for career years out of the blue.

[Chembry]

17 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Out of the first base options, this is the one I preferred at this price range (O'Hearn is a better player, but the Twins probably shouldn't be handing out a two-year contract to him).

Bell is an absolute butcher in the field. I'm not sure he actually wears his glove on the correct hand, or even that he has ten fingers.

Which means he should be playing a lot of DH, and then occasionally playing first when Kody Clemens is benched against a lefty.

Personally, I like Nathaniel Lowe better.  He is a gold glove caliber 1B and won a silver slugger. According to MLBTR, he could be had at 1yr/$5-6M.  Bell isn’t inspiring, but at least he is a decent hitter, albeit streaky.

[rdehring]

Key to this move is how much as that may, or may not, have an effect on what bullpen arms are signed.  Anyone heard what the contract is?  

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Another average bat that can't play defense. 🙄

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, rdehring said:

Key to this move is how much as that may, or may not, have an effect on what bullpen arms are signed.  Anyone heard what the contract is?  

1 year, 7 million with a mutual option for 2027.

[Patzky]

23 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

This doesn't excite me, but I can't imagine there was going to be any first baseman signings that was going to be a boon to the Twins sprint speed.

And I care about the arm strength of a first baseman slightly more than I care about his cribbage skills.

Maybe with Bell we can win a few games 15-2, 15-4..

[Gamblerssoftball]

There's a couple of positives that Matthew points out in the article that I think make this an interesting signing. 

1) he's increased his bat speed from both sides of the plate. It shows that he knows he needs to make adjustments to hit the ball out in front a bit more. Maybe he can move up in the box a little bit to minimize the number of ground balls.

2) he's a good clubhouse guy. I believe that's more important than some might think. Season's are long with a lot of close interactions among teammates. He's got ten years of experience.

How much does he add to the team? I don't know. Maybe enough to matter more than not...