Sometimes, the universe just has a funny way of working things out.
- Rating: 6.28
- MLB Stats: .249/.319/.405 97 OPS+ -0.6 bWAR
- AZ Stats: .279/.361/.436 121 OPS+ 0.3 bWAR (41 G. 162PA)
- Date of birth: 14, August 1992
- Earnings: $16,500,000 ($2.25 million paid by AZ)
- 2025 status: Free Agent
2024 Review
Josh Bell struggled early in thee 2023 season for the Cleveland Guardians. As a result, he was shipped off to the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline. He then turned things around and helped Miami finish the season strong, taking them to the playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Phillies, before the Phillies ran into the Arizona buzzsaw. Bell’s strong finish meant that Miami was nonplussed when Bell exercised his player option for 2024. But then, the wheels fell off in Miami. The front office was a mess and all strides made by the organization to field a competitive team were essentially sold off or dismissed in an effort to maximize profits over competition. It did Bell no favours that he had his own, individual struggles at the plate as he tried to carry the entire team on his back, something he simply is not cut out for. This resulted in a somewhat surprising move by the Marlins to simply cut bait with Bell by placing him on waivers on July 27, three days before the trade deadline. Despite Bell’s struggles, he was only marginally below being replacement level and was costing the team a small fortune to part ways with.
Then, on July 28, Arizona fans held their collective breath as first baseman Christian Walker was forced from the game with a left oblique injury. The next day, one day before the deadline, the Diamondbacks claimed Bell from waivers and sent $2.25 million to the Marlins to complete the move posthaste. This move was made despite reports at the time that Walker was not expected to miss much time. Given Arizona’s luck with players returning from injury, only to have a setback, Mike Hazen was clearly taking a proactive approach. Still, there were some raised eyebrows. After all, Pavin Smith was starting to show signs of life at the plate and was already rostered with the Diamondbacks. Despite his shortcomings, Smith was considered capable of defending at first and was performing better at the plate than Josh Bell had all season (with the exception of home run power). Yet, Arizona went out and picked up Bell, despite his struggling bat and his glaring defensive deficiencies.
The switch-hitting veteran wasted no time at all in changing the hearts and minds of the Arizona faithful. Bell made his Arizona debut on August 2 against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a rather memorable game (for both the team and for Bell). He wasted no time, helping the Diamondbacks pile on against a struggling Ortiz for the Pirates. But then, the Diamondbacks stumbled and fell behind. The Pirates countered by sending Aroldis Chapman out to the mound in the seventh. With two outs, Bell went deep for the second time on the night, pulling the Snakes level with the Bucs, en route to the Diamondbacks eventually winning the tilt.
In addition to hitting the ground running and entering with a bang, Bell also fought against the constant narrative that he was a blundering liability defensively at first base. At 6’4” and 261 pounds, Bell is a big bulk of a player to be playing any position. Yet, despite his size, he showed good reflexes and footwork. He reportedly began to work tirelessly with coaches (especially Tony Perezchica) on his defensive game. It was always assumed that anyone playing first other than Walker would be a downgrade in defensive ability. Initial fears were that Bell’s difficulties defense would spill over and cost the team runs by him not supporting his infield the way Walker had grown into doing. It turns out, that with a bit of coaching and patience, Bell’s defense was just fine. No, he was no Christian Walker, but that wasn’t the requirement. Simply fielding the position capably without costing the team runs with stone hands was all that was required. Bell met that challenge and then some. Bell’s biggest deficiency with regard to fielding was his lateral range. His reflexes proved to be excellent at first and he provided a massive target for his infielders to make difficult throws to.
Being a pure switch-hitter, one that hits well from both sides of the plate, Arizona was fortunate enough to be able to extend their incredibly effective DH platoon even further. Smith and Bell could both help with regard to giving cover to Joc Pederson or Randal Grichuk if they were needed early, or in the field.
Five days after Bell’s big debut, he had another two-homer game on the back end of a double-header in which he played every out. That gave him four home runs in his first six games. While it was big at the time to see him paying off, what was to come was just as promising. With one small blip during a 5-game/22 at-bat stretch without a hit, Bell managed to keep a tight leash on his historically streaky hitting. He broke out of the funk when the Diamondbacks faced his former club, the Miami Marlins. It wasn’t a big performance by Bell. In fact, he only had one hit, a seeing-eye grounder through the left side that benefited from how hard Bell generally smacked the ball. The knock was mostly nothing, though it did drive in Corbin Carroll to close the Diamondbacks deficit to the Marlins from three, down to two.
That hit wasn’t Bell’s only contribution though. He also drew two walks. Drawing walks was something Bell proved to be very good at, despite the reputation for swing-and-miss in his game.
Bell finished the season with the Diamondbacks, continuing to get playing time even after Walker returned from injury. In his brief spell with Arizona, he only hit five long balls, one of which needed a passport. He also contributed 22 RBI and rocked a 10.5% walk rate.
When all was done and dusted, the Diamondbacks ended up not missing a beat when they lost Christian Walker to injury. The timing of Bell’s release by the Marlins and Walker’s injury just prior to the deadline created the perfect storm of circumstances that allowed Mike Hazen to make one of the more astute and impactful deadline moves of his tenure.
2025 and Beyond
Josh Bell became a free agent at the close of the season and is back on the market looking for another gig. The Diamondbacks also watched Christian Walker decline the qualifying offer in order to test free agency. As one of the top-5 first basemen in baseball, it is unlikely that the Diamondbacks will be able to reunite with Christian Walker. They may choose to run with Pavin Smith, seeing if his uptick in power last season is sustainable. However, they may also look at the departures of Pederson and Grichuk and acknowledge they need to invest in a more reliably powerful bat. A reunion with the switch-hitting veteran Bell on a two-year deal is not outside the realm of possibility. HE will cost less per season that Walker and helps them with their preferred DH-style of using a platoon to fill the role. Bell allows them the flexibility to go with whatever secondary bat they want, rather than pigeon-holing them into working with only a partial pool based on handedness. Of course, now that Bell costs nothing but money to sign, there are other clubs that will quite possibly look to sign him as well.
Where Bell lands is still a mystery, though Arizona should be considered among him primary suitors, especially if he signs for only two years. Wherever he does eventually land, it is almost certain that he will still be a starter, and not a veteran bench bat to loan the team his “veteran presence”.