Josh Bell has given the Twins enough offense to make the conversation a real one. He’s in a good stretch right now, hitting .297/.361/.453 with three home runs, one double and eight RBI over his last 17 games. That included a 3-for-4 day with a walk, a run scored and two RBI in Minnesota’s 8-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
Still, the bigger picture points in a different direction. Bell is set to be a free agent this offseason, and even with a productive year at the plate, the Twins shouldn’t bring him back for 2027. He has been useful, not indispensable, and Minnesota’s roster needs make that distinction matter.
The case against a reunion starts with how the Twins want to build the lineup. They should be trying to get Byron Buxton, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Luke Keaschall into regular action next season.
With only three outfield spots available, one way to keep those bats in the mix is to rotate some of them through designated hitter. Keaschall could even handle that role full time, since he is a poor defensive outfielder.
Minnesota also has Gabriel Gonzalez and Hendry Mendez in the upper minors, which only adds to the logjam. In that kind of setup, there just isn’t much room for Bell.
There’s also the first-base angle, but that doesn’t really save the argument for him. If Bell were a reliable defender there, the Twins might have a path to keeping him, especially with the possibility that it may be time for Minnesota to say goodbye to Royce Lewis. But Bell is an extremely poor defender at first base, and that’s why he has appeared in just 20 games there this year.
At the plate, Bell has done his job. He’s hitting .258/.320/.421 with 20 home runs and 91 RBI, and he has been an above-average bat for Minnesota this season.
The problem is that his value is tied almost entirely to the bat. Because he can pretty much only play DH, he has been worth less than 1.0 fWAR this season.
He can swing a game when he gets hot, and he’d still make sense as a pinch-hitting option, but that kind of role is a tough sell for a player who would probably want regular at-bats.
Bell is 34 and still looks like he has more big-league baseball ahead of him if the bat keeps playing. But his path likely stays the same: one-year deals, short-term fits, and teams weighing offense against limited defensive value.
It’s been a solid MLB career overall. Since debuting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016, Bell has compiled 10.2 fWAR, a 111 wRC+ and 213 home runs. He has also played for the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks.
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The numbers in the KBO tell a very different story, with Paddack carrying a 2.93 ERA and helping a Samsung club that sits second in the standings and is in position to reach the postseason. For Minnesota, it is the kind of reminder that pitching careers can change fast, and that a former Twin now looks like he may have found the kind of groove that kept eluding him back in the majors. [Read more 🡒]