On the heels of bringing in a new first baseman for the 2025 season and beyond in Nathaniel Lowe, let's take a look back at a trade made by the Washington Nationals in 2020 to bring in a first baseman that ended up being a fan favorite in Josh Bell.
This trade was one of Rizzo's great fleeces over the years, as acquiring Bell would be a move that paid dividends to the club for multiple seasons. In just 247 games across 2 seasons with the Nationals, Bell accounted for 6.4 bWAR at the first base position, providing a steady presence for the club as a middle-of-the-order bat that could do damage as a switch-hitter.
Rizzo and the Nationals sent back righty Wil Crowe, who had just gotten a cup of coffee with the Nationals in 2020, making 3 uninspiring starts that clearly showed Rizzo & Co. that he was not going to be a part of their staff for the long-term. He would spend 3 seasons with the Pirates, but wouldn't amount to much during his tenure with them, and only had a 5.30 ERA and 1.56 WHIP for his career between both organizations.
In 2021, his first full season, Bell hit 27 homers and drove in 88 RBIs while accounting for an .823 OPS and 3.1 bWAR for the year. Going into 2022, his numbers would improve, as in 103 games before being one of the pieces sent in the Juan Soto deal to the San Diego Padres, he had .301/.384/.493 splits with an .877 OPS, and even accounted for 3.3 bWAR before the deal. Between the Nationals and Padres in that 2022 season, he did enough to win the National League Silver Slugger award at first base.
Bell was loved by many during his time in DC, and since his departure the club has not been able to stabilize the position and receive consistently competent play from the options that they've run out there. Us Nationals fans can only hope that Nathaniel Lowe can have a similar impact to what Bell made on this team, and even provide more value because of his defense.
Since leaving DC, Bell has struggled with a couple of teams, but is still firmly a big-league level player, but just needs to find the right situation. Truthfully, despite already having a new first baseman, I would not be opposed to a reunion with Bell if the team wanted a cheap option to bolster the DH spot. I am not completely opposed to Juan Yepez and Andres Chaparro forming a tandem for the position going into 2025, but would certainly welcome a new bat, or even a familiar face like Bell.
What was your reaction to the Josh Bell trade back in 2020? As always, please let me know on x, @DCBerk.