Pirates Trade Josh Bell to Nationals, Further Weakening NL Central

The Reds appear to be intent on moving their top pitchers and perhaps even Eugenio Suárez, but they’re far from the only team in the NL Central actively getting worse. The Pirates, who are already in rebuild mode, have traded first baseman Josh Bell to the Nationals in exchange for right-handers Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean. Pittsburgh should have been good for a few get-right games before, but this makes those 19 games that much easier.

The 28-year-old switch-hitter will be entering just his second year of arbitration at what could be around $7 million, and he’s still got one more year of control after that. Setting aside a rough 2020 campaign, he’s a well-above-average hitter who seems to kill the Cubs time after time. Despite a mere .233 average against them, Bell always seems to make loud contact and his 12 home runs are the most he’s hit against any opponent.

In fact, his first career home run was a grand slam against the Cubs in Pittsburgh that came off of Adam Warren during the second-to-last game of the first half in 2016. I remember it distinctly because I was there with my kids. Speaking of which, I’m doing my best to spend time with the family instead of the computer, so I’ll sign off for now.

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