The Diamondbacks have acquired first baseman Josh Bell from the Marlins, as per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald (links to X). Miami placed Bell on waivers two days ago, and Mish reports that Arizona will send cash to the Marlins to some of the roughly $5.9MM still owed to Bell for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The move seems like an instant reaction to the oblique injury that forced Christian Walker out of last night’s game. Deemed as left oblique tightness at the time, the fact that the D’Backs have quickly pivoted to adding a new first baseman indicates that Walker has some type of a strain that will require a trip to the injured list. The Diamondbacks figure to give an update on Walker’s condition later today, and given how oblique issues can tend to linger, it wouldn’t be a shock if the rest of Walker’s season could be in jeopardy.
Bell has now been traded at the deadline in each of the last three seasons. The first baseman was dealt along with Juan Soto as part of the blockbuster swap between the Nationals and Padres two years ago, and in 2023, Bell was sent from the Guardians to the Marlins for Kahlil Watson and Jean Segura.
In keeping with the rather streaky nature of Bell’s career, those two trades yielded very different results for his new teams. Bell was enjoying a nice season with Washington in 2022 but struggled badly after the deal to the Padres; last season saw Bell post middling numbers for the Guardians but he then caught fire after joining the Marlins, helping carry the Fish to a wild card berth.
Arizona can only hope for the repeat of Bell’s 2023 turn-around, and in fact the veteran first baseman has ended his Miami tenure on a high note. Bell has a 1.515 OPS and five homers over his last 33 plate appearances, after hitting a much more underwhelming .224/.288/.349 with nine homers in his first 408 PA of the season. While the Diamondbacks’ hand may have been somewhat forced by Walker’s injury, this recent production from Bell provides some evidence that he might be in another of his turns from ice-cold at the plate to red hot.
More to come…