Josh Bell is back in Washington, D.C.
The veteran designated hitter/first baseman and the Nationals have agreed on a one-year, $6 million deal for 2025, the club announced on Sunday.
“When I initially got traded [from the Nationals to the Padres in 2022], I always told myself that I was going to come back,” Bell said in an introductory Zoom call on Monday. “... When I reached free agency again this year, I talked to [agent] Scott [Boras]. … He said that the Nats liked me, and I said, ‘Hey, if you can make something happen, let's do it.’ A little bit of back and forth, and it’s definitely a blessing for me and my family to be able to put on the uniform, go back to Spring Training and get situated with those guys again.”
The Nats had been looking to add offensive power at first base and DH -- and they did both in a week by agreeing to terms with Bell and acquiring Gold Glove first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Rangers.
Bell, 32, remains a potentially big bat, given his ability to hit for power and reach base in other ways. Though his overall production the past two seasons was around league average (101 OPS+ in 2023 and 97 OPS+ in ‘24), the nine-year veteran has a track record of parlaying a change of scenery into solid production.
“I'm excited for it,” Bell said of the DH role. “I know that initially, I struggled with it a little bit, just being able to unplug after at-bats. Going out to defense, it's easy because you have something else to do. But I think I've gotten better at it over the years, and I know the importance of what this team needs is slug. So, for me to dive into DHing and understand that I have to put my body in position to slug, I have to work out [and] train to be able to do that for the team from both sides of the plate for 162 games. I think just putting my effort elsewhere will make me the best hitter that I can be. So I'm excited for that opportunity, and hopefully, we all reap the benefits of me being a powerhouse threat.”
Clubhouse chemistry and veteran presence also were a priority for the Nationals when building their roster this winter. Look for Bell to embrace the valuable leadership role he held in his first stint with the Nats. He served as the Player Ambassador to the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy and was their 2022 Roberto Clemente Award nominee.
He played 247 games for Washington from 2021-22, posting a 136 OPS+ with 41 homers before departing in the first of two consecutive Trade Deadline deals, when he was included in the Juan Soto blockbuster to San Diego.
Each of the past two seasons, a trade at the Deadline ignited a strong finish for Bell, who averaged a 118 OPS+ after trades to the Marlins and D-backs in 2023 and ‘24, respectively. He's far removed from his heyday of 37 homers with the Pirates in 2019, but he's still capable of 15-20 long balls a season and an OPS above .800. His career hard-hit rate of 42.1% is well above league average, as is his 11.2% walk rate. Those were both illustrated in his .361 on-base percentage in 41 games for the D-backs this past season.
The Nats reuniting with Bell comes at a familiar time of year. In 2020, they traded for Bell from the Pirates on Christmas Eve.