The Twins have their 2026 first baseman.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, The Twins have agreed to a deal with first baseman Josh Bell for one year with a mutual option for 2027. Due to mutual options never getting picked up, it’s a de facto single season contract with a buyout allowing the Twins to spread the money over two seasons. The contract is worth $5.75M this season with a $1.25M buyout on the mutual option, bringing the total guarantees to $7M.
Bell has been an above average hitter in every season of his decade-long career, which will help stabilize a lineup full of young, unproven hitters (Keaschall, Lee, Roden) and streaky ones (Wallner, Jeffers, Lewis). Bell gut .237/.325/.417 in 2025 for a 107 wRC+, which is essentially in line with his career 112 wRC+. A switch hitter, Bell is better facing lefties than righties, putting up a career 116 wRC+ against righties and 104 vs lefties. That split was even more pronounced in 2025 as he managed just a 56 wRC+ against southpaws. Which means, as always, the Twins still need right-handed first base/corner outfield/DH option to pair with Bell, Larnach, and Wallner, among others.
While Bell isn’t the flashiest name on the free agent market, he represents a clear upgrade for a Twins team in need of consistency at the plate. His surface-level numbers aren’t elite, but his xWOBA, xSLG, barrel rate, hard hit rate, strikeout rate, and walk rate are all in the top 25% of MLB hitters, so the Twins are likely hoping for a bit of a bounce back like they saw with Carlos Santana in 2024.
POBO Derek Falvey was reportedly happy to roll into next season with Kody Clemens as the starting first baseman, but Clemens has a very short track record of success and is extremely streaky, as Twins fans witnessed last season. This allows Clemens to slide back into a heavily-used utility role while Bell can be a steadying, if unspectacular, force in the middle of the lineup.
Bell will also be the Twins’ seventh projected starting first baseman in the eight seasons since Joe Mauer retired, joining Ty France, Carlos Santana, Joey Gallo, Jose Miranda, Miguel Sano, and CJ Cron in an increasingly infamous list. That’s before mentioning experiments at first base with Luis Arraez, Alex Kirilloff, and Donovan Solano, among others.
The Twins’ estimated 2026 payroll now sits around $101M depending on contracts with arbitration-eligible players. With the Twins reportedly looking to run a payroll in the $115M-$120M range, they still have plenty of cash available to shore up the bullpen and add another bat. With the Twins’ plethora of starting pitching, the trade market is an untapped resource as well.
Things are just getting started!
Category: General Sports
