Minnesota Twins and first baseman Josh Bell finalize $7 million, 1-year contract

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — First baseman Josh Bell and the Minnesota Twins have finalized their $7 million, one-year contract.

The sides agreed to terms Monday, pending a physical exam, and the Twins announced the deal Friday.

Bell gets a $250,000 signing bonus payable by Feb. 1 and a $5.5 million salary in 2026. The contract includes a $10 million mutual option for 2027 with a $1.25 million buyout for Bell, who also gets a hotel suite on road trips.

A durable switch-hitter with power, Bell projects to help fill a void at first base and designated hitter for the Twins in his 11th major league season. He hit .237 with 22 home runs and 63 RBIs this year for Washington.

The Dallas-area native has played in at least 140 games in each of his eight full big league seasons, topping 600 plate appearances five times.

Bell was selected in the second round of the 2011 amateur draft out of high school by Pittsburgh and made his major league debut in 2016. His best season came with the Pirates in 2019, when he made the All-Star team while hitting .277 with 37 home runs, 116 RBIs and a .936 OPS.

He has 193 homers and a .785 OPS over his career, almost entirely in the National League. Bell had stints with Miami, Arizona and San Diego, too. His only prior American League experience came in 2023 with Cleveland.

Over the last five years, Bell has switched teams seven times — including four trades. The Twins will be his sixth team in less than four years.

This is the third straight offseason the Twins have used free agency to find a stopgap first baseman, with the 33-year-old Bell following Ty France and Carlos Santana. After France was traded to Toronto on July 31, one of nine deals the Twins made that week leading up to the deadline, Kody Clemens took most of the playing time at first base.

Clemens, who hit 19 home runs in 112 games while also filling in at second base and every outfield spot, will likely slide into a utility backup role.

Though the Twins remain in a state of flux around their payroll for 2026 and beyond, with team ownership working on adding two new investment groups to help pay down debt, president Derek Falvey said last week at baseball's winter meetings that the front office won't shed any more salary and has a modest budget to work with to supplement the roster.

That means the Twins won't be forced to trade any of their All-Stars, center fielder Byron Buxton and starting pitchers Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan. Now that Bell is on board, the next target for Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll will be rebuilding the bullpen for new manager Derek Shelton after it was torn down during the trading spree last summer.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

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