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

[LA Vikes Fan]

6 hours ago, Coach Wheels said:

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. 

I agree and wonder if you are right about Bell not coming back. I would not at all be surprised if that $10 million mutual option was one of the few that actually got exercised by both sides. Bell starts as DH and if the young guys actually show something, we trade him at midseason. In the more likely scenario that we call up Jenkins and Emma and only one of them can actually hit major league pitching in his first year, Bell provides a great security blanket. I think the team is poised to be a division title contender next year, with 2027 not another developing team year, and I think Bell actually has a position on the team.

[HarmonK03]

13 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I agree and wonder if you are right about Bell not coming back. I would not at all be surprised if that $10 million mutual option was one of the few that actually got exercised by both sides. Bell starts as DH and if the young guys actually show something, we trade him at midseason. In the more likely scenario that we call up Jenkins and Emma and only one of them can actually hit major league pitching in his first year, Bell provides a great security blanket. I think the team is poised to be a division title contender next year, with 2027 not another developing team year, and I think Bell actually has a position on the team.

If the current management is still in place, which I hope they aren't, he wouldn't be a security blanket.  He would be holding back either ERod or Jenkins.  If either Bell or Larnach are on the roster next year, one of those two will not be.  And we will have another lost year of development and finding out what they can do.

The current front office loves these one year league average at best vets.  And it did hurt this year, if Bell is not here, ERod probably makes the team out of spring training and we would know now where he fits into the future.  Bell has contributed to this team but we truly don't know how many games back we would be without him.  We can't keep sacrificing the opportunity to give the younger players a chance, that is why we are developing a bottleneck now.

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, MeleMouth said:

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.

I feel like that's a pretty extreme take that no player or manager would ever have an impact on team chemistry or work ethic, etc. There are some folks who will argue the manager doesn't have any impact (usually when attempting to protect an unpopular manager under siege by fans). The manager brings more than locker room attitude, though. The manager brings philosophy on who plays, who doesn't, why they get the opportunity, coaching philosophy, bullpen decisions, etc. 

The question at play is whether Bell could have that kind of impact on this Twins team? I think, if Bell was a Rafael Devers kind of crybaby, selfish, ****head, he could potentially cause a destabilization, but I don't believe he's likely to be a lift. I think the Twins are populated by a lot of good guys.

In any case, I don't generally subscribe to the intangibles which aren't specifically called out by players.

[LA Vikes Fan]

25 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

If the current management is still in place, which I hope they aren't, he wouldn't be a security blanket.  He would be holding back either ERod or Jenkins.  If either Bell or Larnach are on the roster next year, one of those two will not be.  And we will have another lost year of development and finding out what they can do.

The current front office loves these one year league average at best vets.  And it did hurt this year, if Bell is not here, ERod probably makes the team out of spring training and we would know now where he fits into the future.  Bell has contributed to this team but we truly don't know how many games back we would be without him.  We can't keep sacrificing the opportunity to give the younger players a chance, that is why we are developing a bottleneck now.

I don’t think he holds either one back if Laranach is gone. There are plenty of games for four outfielders to play regularly in the three spots, particularly with Buxton getting a DH or off day each week. I think this narrative that we have to get rid of Bell to play Jenkins and Emma is a false premise. We can and should have all 3 plus Buxton and Keaschall on the roster and there’s plenty of at bats for all those guys. They can all get 500 to 550 at bats a year, more if they can hit left-handed pitching and we don’t need to give Martin much time. 

[HarmonK03]

45 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I don’t think he holds either one back if Laranach is gone. There are plenty of games for four outfielders to play regularly in the three spots, particularly with Buxton getting a DH or off day each week. I think this narrative that we have to get rid of Bell to play Jenkins and Emma is a false premise. We can and should have all 3 plus Buxton and Keaschall on the roster and there’s plenty of at bats for all those guys. They can all get 500 to 550 at bats a year, more if they can hit left-handed pitching and we don’t need to give Martin much time. 

I hope you are correct but I believe the key is who is in the front office.  This current office likes to establish players for each position based on what side of the plate they hit from.  They have typically not had 4 starting caliber outfielders and make the lineups accordingly so everyone gets at bats.  I know it can be done but I am not sure this front office will do it if Bell is here.

[weitz41]

My 2 cents are Falvey and Zoll targeted switch hitters to help deal with the line up imbalance of lefties, for their heavy matchup approach. Bell being better than expected is a surprise bonus.

[HarmonK03]

26 minutes ago, weitz41 said:

My 2 cents are Falvey and Zoll targeted switch hitters to help deal with the line up imbalance of lefties, for their heavy matchup approach. Bell being better than expected is a surprise bonus.

Bell is basically at all his career averages in most statistical categories, I would argue he is performing as expected.