Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have hired Mike Bell as their Bench Coach for the 2020 season.

Bell, 45, recently completed his third season as Vice President of Player Development for the Arizona Diamondbacks. 2019 also marked his 13th season with Arizona and 27th in professional baseball. In his most recent role, Bell was responsible for overseeing and maintaining relationships with the Diamondbacks’ affiliates, managing the coordinators and coaching staffs, and handling player acquisition and transactions. Prior his most recent role, Bell spent six seasons as Arizona’s Director of Player Development (2011-16), Minor League Field Coordinator (2010), and Manager in the club’s minor league system with High-A Visalia (2008-09), and Low-A Yakima (2007).

The former infielder was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round (30th overall) of the 1993 First-Year Player Draft out of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He played parts of 13 minor league seasons from 1993-2005, hitting .265 with 135 home runs and 684 RBI in the Rangers, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals organizations.

Bell comes from a three-generation baseball family as his grandfather, Gus, was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1950 and his father, Buddy, had an 18-year playing career before serving as a major league manager for nine seasons. His brother, David, will begin his second season managing the Reds in 2020, while another brother, Ricky, was a first round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997.