Twins prioritized Josh Bell in free agency, and he plans to reward them

The way Josh Bell tells it, the well-traveled first baseman who has played on five teams over the past four seasons had a straightforward foray into free agency.

The Twins were the first team that reached out with interest during the offseason. Then, on the first day of the winter meetings in early December, manager Derek Shelton walked up to a person from his agency, and said, “Hey, we want Josh.”

“I got a call from [my agents] and they said, ‘Are you interested?’” Bell said. “I said, ‘For sure.’ ”

One week later, Bell was in agreement on a one-year, $7 million contract. The Twins envision Bell as someone who could bolster the middle of their lineup whether he is starting at first base or designated hitter. Bell hit .237 last season with 22 homers, 63 RBI and a .741 OPS in 140 games with the Washington Nationals.

Bell hit .286 with 11 homers, 11 doubles and 31 RBI over his final 67 games, posting a solid .858 OPS. There were only nine National League hitters that had a higher OPS across the last three months of the season.

“Just trying to stay underneath the ball, get balls in the air as best as I can,” Bell said. “Because I hit the ball hard enough. I have pretty good pitch recognition and don’t chase too much. When I do make contact, just try to get it in the air and that’s what worked for me.”

Bell’s late-season success was the result of some swing adjustments he made after a slow start to the season, holding his bat in a different position when he prepared to swing. Before games, he started hitting more sinkers off pitching machines, and he started swinging with a weighted bat.

“That’s when I started seeing results on the field,” Bell said. “It’s just one of those things where you play with veterans, and we just started talking, and it definitely helped me extend my career.”

Bell, the 6-3, 260-pound switch hitter, was energized by the way he finished the season. It was rewarding after an ugly first month, batting .130 through his first 33 games on an underachieving Nationals team.

“I’ve hit more this offseason than I think I ever have,” Bell said. “Just trying not to lose feel, and trying to come into camp ready to go.”

Bell is determined to have a better start than last year. So much, he said, that he swore off playing golf.

“I tried golfing for the first time last offseason,” Bell said. “I just won’t do that anymore. I think it made me lose my swing over the course of the offseason, so I’ve just been hitting from both sides. I told myself I’ll hang up the clubs until I hang up my jersey, so hopefully that helps.”

“We’re going to start hitting together next week and take grounders together,” Bell said. “I know he’s had ups and downs with his career, with injuries and whatnot, but hopefully I can help him out with that just a little bit and we’ll see what we can do on the field if he can get up to 140 games.”

When Bell references 140 games, he’s speaking from experience. Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Bell has played at least 140 games in each of his past eight seasons.