Josh Bell Is Derek Falvey’s Parting Gift to the Twins

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images

When Derek Falvey and the Twins mutually parted ways at the end of January, it marked the end of a nine-year run for the executive who had helped reshape the organization. Before leaving, Falvey made three free-agent signings for the Twins during the offseason: Taylor Rogers, Victor Caratini, and Josh Bell.

Rogers has struggled for much of the season, albeit usually in low-leverage spots, while Caratini has had his moments. Bell, however, has turned into something much more valuable. The designated hitter has been one of the Twins' most important offensive players, and his signing is looking more and more like Falvey's parting gift to the organization.

Bell's overall numbers tell a big part of the story. He currently owns a 110 OPS+, putting him on pace for his best offensive season since 2022, when he split the season between the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres. He leads the Twins with 499 plate appearances, 26 doubles and 77 RBI, providing a level of consistency in the middle of the lineup that the team has desperately needed.

But Bell's impact goes beyond his overall numbers. He has been particularly outstanding when the Twins have needed him most, hitting .349 with a 1.039 OPS with runners in scoring position. In a season in which the Twins have struggled to consistently produce offense, Bell has repeatedly come through in the biggest moments.

That wasn't necessarily what anyone expected when the season began.

Bell got off to a brutal start, something that has become somewhat of a calling card throughout his career. Through May 31st, he was hitting just .219 with a .619 OPS, five home runs and 32 RBI through 57 games. At the time, it was fair to wonder whether the Twins had signed a veteran whose best days were behind him.

Instead, Bell has completely turned his season around.

Since June 1st, Bell has posted a .869 OPS with 12 home runs and 45 RBI over 66 games (entering play Friday). His best stretch has come at exactly the time the Twins have needed it most. In 16 games during August, Bell is hitting .361 with a 1.041 OPS. That performance has been massive for the Twins because the offense around him has struggled badly this month. Minnesota ranks in the bottom third of Major League Baseball in runs scored in August, making Bell's production even more important. Without him in the middle of the lineup, it is difficult to imagine how an already-struggling offense would have survived this stretch.

That is particularly important considering where the Twins are in the standings. With Minnesota fighting to keep its playoff hopes alive, there isn't much room for an extended offensive slump. Games are becoming increasingly important, and when the Twins have needed a big hit with runners on base, Bell has consistently been the guy delivering it, like he did on Tuesday with a first run blast to the third deck with a runner on second base to give the Twins a big first-inning lead.

Falvey signed Bell in December to a one-year, $7 million contract. For an executive who typically preferred to wait until late in the offseason, and sometimes even into spring training, before making significant free-agent additions, the timing of the deal was notable. It was clear that Bell was someone Falvey wanted from the beginning of the offseason, and he didn't wait around to see if the market would bring the price down. And for a while, that decision looked questionable.

Bell's slow start made it seem as though the Twins had committed $7 million to a veteran whose best offensive years were behind him. But the Twins stuck with him, and Bell has rewarded that patience by becoming one of the most productive and important players on the roster.

According to FanGraphs, Bell has already provided roughly $6 million in value to the Twins this season. That alone makes the contract look like a strong investment, but it doesn't fully capture what Bell has meant to this team.

The timing of his production matters. His best baseball has come while the Twins have desperately needed offense, and his ability to drive in runs has been particularly valuable. Add in the veteran leadership he has provided in the clubhouse, and the signing has turned into a slam dunk.

That makes Bell an interesting final chapter for Falvey, whose best previous most was arguably the signing of another veteran DH with stellar clubhouse vibes in Nelson Cruz.

Falvey's tenure with the Twins ended before he could see the full results of the moves he made during his final offseason. Rogers hasn't provided the results the Twins hoped for, and Caratini has been a mixed bag. Bell, however, has become a legitimate success story.

The player Falvey targeted from the very beginning of the offseason has turned into one of the reasons the Twins are still hanging around the playoff race in August. It may not have been the most exciting signing when it happened. It certainly didn't look like one when Bell struggled through the first two months of the season. But with the season entering its most important stretch, Josh Bell has made that $7 million investment look awfully smart.

In the end, perhaps the best way to remember Falvey's final offseason with the Twins is through the player he went out and got before he left. Josh Bell was one of Derek Falvey's final moves as a member of the Twins. Now, he is one of the biggest reasons Minnesota still has a chance to make something out of this season.

What do you think? How would you grade Josh Bell's signing now, and has he become the best free-agent addition of Derek Falvey's final offseason with the Twins? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

View full article

[old nurse]

No comments yet? I am shocked!

[Jeff K]

Meatloaf sang that 2 out of 3 ain't bad.  Well, at best, Falvey's offseason was 1 good performance, 1 mediocre (generously) performance and 1 poor performance.  Bell has truly helped the team, but not in the field which has contributed to the lack of flexibility at the DH position.

[stringer bell]

Agree with this. There is value in having a guy like Bell in the middle of the order every day.

I am surprised that Josh has moved around so much during his career, given his clubhouse presence, durability and production. However, he’s not an elite slugger and his skillset is bat-first. 

[mikelink45]

My question is for next year - who is the next slugger one year signing?  Or are we done with that?  Jeffers and Bell out of the lineup will leave gigantic holes. 

[Whitey333]

Where would the Twins be thus year without Josh Bell?  Hes been very good most of the season.  He leads the team in RBIs and is excellent clutch hitter.  I think he is a free agent at end of season.  Falvey?  Glad hes gone.   

[DJL44]

They have received about $7M worth of value for $7M. That’s not some sort of super genius move.

[TL]

I would not call the hole in the lineup Bell would leave "gigantic" (though Jeffers is). No denying he's been a useful bat, but that's what a DH is supposed to bring. I'd be content next year to not have a traditional DH and let your position players cycle through. May need that with the glut of outfielders who will need at bats. 

If Bell comes back cheaper as a bench bat (not everyday DH) I'd take it, but I could see him falling off a cliff too.

[strumdatjag]

Then again.   Look at who the Padres had at 1B last night, a Gold Glover and Clean-up hitter in Ty France.   Maybe just maybe The Twins could have kept him on board (with Royce Lewis ultimately taking over at 2B).  
I like what Josh Bell has done but that would seem to have a better overall benefit to the Twins. 
Find a DH in the organization.  With Matt Wallner’s resurgence in AAA, he could fill the DH role now (although he wouldn’t have done it all season). 

[Coach JT]

Yes the Bell signing turned out pretty good. But his roster management with Larnach and to many left handed corner outfielders is absolutely ridiculous. Then Zolls refusal to trade Larnach and maybe Lewis for more pitching has killed us in the end . 

[thelanges5]

45 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

My question is for next year - who is the next slugger one year signing?  Or are we done with that?  Jeffers and Bell out of the lineup will leave gigantic holes. 

Yandy Diaz 

[terrydactyls]

33 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

They have received about $7M worth of value for $7M. That’s not some sort of super genius move.

Fangraphs overprices everybody.  If Larnach is "worth" $14M, then Bell is truly a steal at $7M.

[Coach Wheels]

Josh Bell is a pro and he's been a pro all summer for this team. No way he comes back with all the young guys on the doorstep but, if this team makes the playoffs, it will because Bell has a special last 5 weeks. 

[Russ]

Hmmm, I missed all the greatness of the Falvey regime.  I should have paid more attention.

[Althebum82]

Bell played over 600 innings at 1B before June 1, and has only played 15 innings since then.  It could be just a coincidence that his offense thrived when he no longer had to worry about his defense?  Maybe.  But let's not test that theory, it appears he is one the better players for whom the DH role was created.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

They have received about $7M worth of value for $7M. That’s not some sort of super genius move.

at least until his next ice cold streak.

[bean5302]

It's my opinion that games matter in April just as much as they matter in September. Josh Bell is nothing more than an overpaid roster constriction.

[MeleMouth]

I like Josh Bell and think the article missed another of his contributions this year, because he has been an outstanding locker room guy, kind of a 1B to Shelton's 1A in terms of supporting the other players. However, we need to be careful not to overstate his hitting value. He currently has a 110 wRC+. Among 137 qualified hitters, this places him in a tie for 68th, which is the median among qualified hitters. Now, that isn't bad, but it's not incredible, either. 

The potential good news is that Bell has been a much better hitter in the second half of the last three years, including being practically elite in 2024 and excellent in 2025, with his Statcast data being elite in 2025. Although he's actually not hitting the ball as hard this year, that pattern seems to be repeating, so we can hope that it continues.

[PuckettPond]

Would the Twins be better served if they used a rotating DH like they do in the minors? Why over pay for a bat with a small market budget. Why hasn't Wallner been called up? What does he have to work on?

[bean5302]

59 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

I like Josh Bell and think the article missed another of his contributions this year, because he has been an outstanding locker room guy, kind of a 1B to Shelton's 1A in terms of supporting the other players. However, we need to be careful not to overstate his hitting value. He currently has a 110 wRC+. Among 137 qualified hitters, this places him in a tie for 68th, which is the median among qualified hitters. Now, that isn't bad, but it's not incredible, either. 

The potential good news is that Bell has been a much better hitter in the second half of the last three years, including being practically elite in 2024 and excellent in 2025, with his Statcast data being elite in 2025. Although he's actually not hitting the ball as hard this year, that pattern seems to be repeating, so we can hope that it continues.

I wasn't aware the Twins had a "good locker room guy" shortage and they need Bell to show them how to be supportive? I guess I haven't spent any time on the roster and in the locker room myself so I'll have to defer to your experiences in the clubhouse and traveling with the team because you seem to have first hand knowledge of Josh Bell being "outstanding" in the locker room.

[MeleMouth]

3 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I wasn't aware the Twins had a "good locker room guy" shortage and they need Bell to show them how to be supportive? I guess I haven't spent any time on the roster and in the locker room myself so I'll have to defer to your experiences in the clubhouse and traveling with the team because you seem to have first hand knowledge of Josh Bell being "outstanding" in the locker room.

Glad you'll defer. Deferring to other posters instead of making personal attacks is a nice way to behave.

[bean5302]

6 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

Glad you'll defer. Deferring to other posters instead of making personal attacks is a nice way to behave.

Bell is well known as a quality person. When you assert his value in the win column comes from being a quality person, there needs to be some sort of logic behind that. I don't see the lack of quality people or veteran leadership on the team this year.

[HarmonK03]

Bell has had his moments, but he has mostly been league average.  He had a good June, and has been hot the last three weeks.   April and May he was not good.  He has 10 more RBI's than Lee hitting in the middle of the order while Lee has been hitting mostly in the bottom of the order.  So how much of his RBI production is from his spot in the lineup and should we expect more.

I have no interest in keeping him for next year.  Leave the DH spot as a rotating spot to give the other starters a half day.  Don't keep clogging the roster with a bat only.  We need to get more athletic and keeping him doesn't accomplish this.  

We have to commit to Jenkins and Erod.  If they bomb then you regroup in 2028, but at some point you have to find out and now is the time.

And I keep hearing about the clubhouse aspect, that is great but I want players that will contribute on the field.  It feels like that is becoming a driving force of the roster construction especially if reports about Jackson being kept for this reason are true.  There has to be a balance but ultimately they have to produce on the field.

[MeleMouth]

1 minute ago, bean5302 said:

Bell is well known as a quality person. When you assert his value in the win column comes from being a quality person, there needs to be some sort of logic behind that. I don't see the lack of quality people or veteran leadership on the team this year.

As noted by the OP, Bell is one of the main additions to the team this year, to which I would add it is a team that is outperforming expectations and has a better tone than last year's team, even before the fire sale. I'm glad you agree that Bell is a quality person or at least a good teammate (we have almost no idea what he does in his private life). When something like a team's tone is better, the team is performing better, and a new member of the team is a good and supportive teammate, it can't be proven that his conduct made the difference, but circumstantial and observational evidence suggests that he may be making a positive effect. My own career and athletic experience gave me many examples.

I'm not aware of any math connecting culture or quality of a person or even a locker room to success. I also, however, would not mock the concept, unless "chemistry" or culture is used to explain a series of decisions that are otherwise suboptimal, nor do I feel qualified to make rules for others of what "there needs to be" regarding their opinions, with the possible exception that opinions should not be based on clear factual errors.

Following your logic, a team would never change its manager because it wanted a new tone in the dugout, because they wouldn't be able to prove it makes any difference. Nor would it ever seek someone to provide veteran leadership, such as Andy MacPhail did when he traded for Don Baylor and Terry Ryan said he was doing when he brought back Torii Hunter. You're right that fans don't know as much as MacPhail or Ryan about the locker room or players, but fans have a right to their opinions on the issue.

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

4 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Where would the Twins be thus year without Josh Bell?

Likely a team under .500

[mnfireman]

1 hour ago, HarmonK03 said:

 April and May he was not good. 

The whole team was not good in April and May - .235/.316/.385 (.701 OPS) 64 HR in 60 GM, good for wRC+ of 97. Team record was 27-33, good for a 73 win pace. 

 

[HarmonK03]

8 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

The whole team was not good in April and May - .235/.316/.385 (.701 OPS) 64 HR in 60 GM, good for wRC+ of 97. Team record was 27-33, good for a 73 win pace. 

 

And now they are 3 games under .500 an improvement of only 3 games.  That is the ultimate stat, wins and there is not much improvement so how is Bell leading us to the World Series.

[Linus]

He’s fine but I believe there must be something like a familiarity bias. We get comfortable with players and start valuing them inordinately. He’s a league average bat, maybe a little better, that’s it. 

[MeleMouth]

1 minute ago, HarmonK03 said:

And now they are 3 games under .500 an improvement of only 3 games.  That is the ultimate stat, wins and there is not much improvement so how is Bell leading us to the World Series.

Important points. Bell has been a decent addition and the team has outperformed, but no, this team is not going to the World Series (all predictions guaranteed or your money back), and in pursuit of seeking to squeak into a wild card series or win a weak division with a sub-.500 record they lost opportunities to strengthen future teams that could have better chances to go to the World Series.

[mnfireman]

2 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

And now they are 3 games under .500 an improvement of only 3 games.  That is the ultimate stat, wins and there is not much improvement so how is Bell leading us to the World Series.

I don't think anybody stated or expected that Bell would lead this team to the WS, he was a low dollar signing who was expected to play 1B (he can't) and DH.

He is 6th in the AL with a wRC+ of 141 and tied for 7th in RBI(with Clemens) with 45 since June 1. He is a big reason that the team is still in the play-off hunt, something not expected of this team before the season began.