Josh Bell was one of a small handful of second-tier first baseman remaining in a free agent market headlined by Pete Alonso. He figured to find a home with a team that had an obvious need at first base.
Instead, according to multiple reports Sunday, Bell is signing with the Washington Nationals — a team that just last week acquired first baseman Nathaniel Lowe in a trade with the Texas Rangers.
The 1B free-agent market keeps moving with Josh Bell signing 1-year, $6 million contract with the Washington Nationals. @JonHeyman on it.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 30, 2024
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report Bell was going to the Nationals on a $6 million contract.
Bell, 32, hit 19 home runs with 71 RBIs in 145 games for the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks. Bell played for the Nationals from 2021-22.
In a nine-year major league career that began in 2016, Bell has made 877 of his 894 career defensive appearances at first base. He hasn’t played another position since 2021, when he made nine appearances in left field and another in right field for the Nats.
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Instead, Bell figures to be the Nationals’ designated hitter, a position he saw on 45 occasions in 2024. He can also spell Lowe, whom the Nats acquired last Sunday for left-handed reliever Robert Garcia, at first base.
The Nationals got a .372 slugging percentage — 24th in MLB — from their DHs in 2024. Bell can do nothing if not slug. He hit a career-high 37 home runs in 2019 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, making the National League All-Star team, and has averaged 21 homers a year in the five non-pandemic seasons since.
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Bell is a career .258/.343/.447 hitter for the Pirates, Nationals, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Marlins and D-Backs.
Alonso is the clear prize of the free agent market among first baseman — if not any position — still left on the board. However, he’ll come at a cost. In addition to the reported $200 million he is seeking, interested teams will be required to sacrifice a 2025 draft pick as compensation for signing the 30-year-old slugger.
Nats and Josh Bell have agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal pending a physical, source confirms. Bell returns to Nats after being acquired via trade with Pirates on Christmas Eve 2020 and then included in the Juan Soto deal with the Padres in 2022.@JonHeyman was first.
— Bobby Blanco (@Bobby_Blanco) December 30, 2024
One exception: the New York Mets, who can re-sign Alonso without sacrificing a pick. The Mets reportedly offered Alonso three years and $90 million, a far cry from his goal.
Anthony Rizzo, Justin Turner and Ty France are among the other first basemen still left on the market. Bell offers more power potential than any of them, and now has a chance to go back to a familiar setting.
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