The Red Sox are bringing Jason Bell onto their major league coaching staff, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Bell, who had been the Astros’ major league field coordinator and outfield coach, is set to work as Boston’s outfield instructor, per Tim Healey of the Boston Globe, with the sides still figuring out whether he’ll take on anything beyond that.
Bell’s move comes as Houston continues to reshape what its staff will look like in 2027. Earlier this month, owner Jim Crane chose not to keep manager Joe Espada and also let go of five coaches, while moving bench coach Omar Lopez into a different organizational role.
The Astros initially said Bell was among four coaches staying on, alongside pitching coach Josh Miller, hitting coach Victor Rodriguez and first base coach Dave Clark. Now, it appears Bell was allowed to pursue the Boston job and is headed to Fenway Park instead.
At 36, Bell has taken an unusual route to the big leagues. He entered the Astros organization as a development coach in 2017, later managed in the minors, then spent five years as a minor league field coordinator before working the last three seasons on the major league staff in uniform.
Before Houston, he had been director of baseball operations at Ohio University and the pitching coach at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. McTaggart also highlighted Bell’s uncommon climb to a big league coaching role when he first joined the Astros staff in 2024.
Boston’s coaching picture is still in motion, too. The club’s April dismissal of manager Alex Cora and five coaches sent several minor league coaches to the majors on interim assignments. Chad Tracy, who stepped in for Cora as interim manager, has since lost the temporary tag and signed a three-year contract to become the team’s permanent skipper.
Other changes have followed since the season ended. Chad Epperson moved from interim third base coach to manager of Worcester, the Red Sox’s Triple-A club.
Interim first base coach Pablo Cabrera is reportedly returning to his previous job as the organization’s minor league field coordinator. Meanwhile, three other members of the ’26 staff - bench coach José David Flores, hitting coaches Collin Hetzler and Nelson Paulino, and assistant hitting coach Jack Simonetty - still carry interim designations.
Bell could end up filling one of those openings as part of his new role with the Red Sox.
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