In Rare Spending Spree, Cleveland Guardians Add Free Agent Josh Bell

After sitting out most of the last few off-seasons, when it came to making blockbuster trades or headline-grabbing free agent signings, the famously financially-cautious Cleveland Guardians in 2022 had a surprisingly successful season that begged for ownership to acknowledge it by opening the seldom-opened war chest for enough money to acquire a player with the potential to be a difference maker in 2023.

On Monday, ownership did exactly that, and the Guardians got their man.

Cleveland signed switch-hitting free agent first baseman Josh Bell to a two-year $33 million contract. It’s a hugely important acquisition for a Guardians team that in 2022 somehow won 96 games, won their division, and came within one win of reaching the ALCS, despite out-homering only one team in the major leagues.

Bell should help address that deficiency. The 30-year-old slugger belted 37 home runs and drove in 116 runs in 2019. Over the last two years he’s averaged 22 homers and 80 RBI.

“He’s at the point in his career,” said non-impartial observer Scott Boras, Bell’s agent, “where we feel the rocket ship is ready to take off. This couldn’t be a better fit.”

The Guardians hope so. The Tigers were the only major league team that in 2022 hit fewer home runs than Cleveland’s 127. But Manager Terry Francona’s fiesty, resourceful bunch was able to cobble together enough offense to win the AL Central.

They did so without a true cleanup hitter.

Monday, they acquired one.

“We went into the offseason committed to building on the foundation we set this year,” said Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti. “With a couple of the right additions we could take the next step, as a team, and as an organization.”

At the top of Cleveland’s list was the hitter they eventually signed.

“Early on in the offseason,” said Antonetti, “we saw an alignment with Josh and the impact he could have on our team. . . We sought a middle of the order bat that could contribute offensively but also to the fabric of our clubhouse. In many respects, Josh checked all the boxes.”

Bell also was intrigued by the style of play Francona’s band of gamers consistently produced last year.

“Watching them from afar, they played entertaining baseball and surprised a lot of people last year,” Bell said. “They were the scrappiest team in the league, with the lowest strikeout rate. They have guys at the top of the lineup who can steal bases and get on base, which, as a middle of the order guy, I like. Their pitching is spectacular. It’s an exciting time to be a Guardian.”

While the Guardians had their eye on Bell, Bell had his eye on the Guardians.

“We were talking about them before they reached out to us,” said Bell, whose wife is from Ohio. “It was like a perfect storm of things pulling me in this direction.”

In 2022 the Guardians had six different players start games at first base, with Josh Naylor (84 games) getting the most starts at that position. The addition of Bell will probably significantly reduce the number of starts at first base for Naylor, who seems better suited to fill another hole in the Cleveland lineup: designated hitter.

How Francona dispenses the starts at first base next year remains to be seen, but it’s likely that Bell will get the majority of them. Naylor, still not totally recovered from a horrific leg injury two years ago, may get occasional starts at first, but seems better suited for DH duty.

“Tito is extraordinary at positioning guys to be successful,” Antonetti said. “He’ll talk to both of them and they’ll work it out. But I expect both Joshes will get playing time at first base and DH.”

Bell doesn’t sound overly concerned about who plays where.

“What’s most important is that we get a win every day,” he said. “I’m pumped to share the position with Josh next year, so we can get as many wins as we can.”

Whether as the first baseman or DH, Bell, as Cleveland’s cleanup hitter, will be counted on not just to be a run producer, but also to be the hitter who discourages opposing pitchers from pitching around number three hitter Jose Ramirez, Cleveland’s perennial all-star third baseman.

“We view Josh (Bell) as a hitter first, but with tremendous power potential. . . He has hit for prodigious power in the past,” said Antonetti.

Bell split the 2022 season between Washington and San Diego, and won the National League Silver Slugger award for the DH position. He hit 29 doubles, with 17 home runs, 71 RBI, and was sixth in the league with 81 walks and eighth with a .362 on base percentage.

The signing of Bell was a big one for the Guardians, but also a cautious one. Bell has a player opt-out after the 2023 season.