Signing Josh Bell only makes sense for the Cleveland Guardians if he comes in on a team-friendly deal

The Cleveland Guardians are a team who could use Josh Bell but only at the right price.

The Cleveland Guardians need more pop in their lineup, that’s not a debate. The team is also looking at spending more as many in the baseball blogosphere believe the Guards will up their payroll considerably this offseason. That makes the news that the team went after Jose Abreu even more understandable. The team is out there trying. One name the fandom is hoping the team goes after is Josh Bell.

Bell has spent parts of his career in Pittsburgh, Washington DC, and most recently San Diego where he’s played inconsistently as a power hitter. He’s around the .260 mark with his average, which is a good starting point. But he’s all over the place with power.

In his first three full years in Pittsburgh, he hit 26, 12, and 37 home runs in consecutive seasons. In 2020, his slugging fell off considerably, hitting just .364 to his 2019 season of .569. He returned to form a bit in 2021, hitting 27 home runs and a .476 slugging so things looked to be evening out.

Then 2022 came around and things bottomed out. He was hitting a career-high of .301 with the Nationals to start the season, belting 14 home runs and a .497 slugging. Then he went to San Diego, to a much lsess friendly power-park, so his home run numbers were expected to flatten out.

They did, and in doing so, so did his average. He hit just .192 during his stint in San Diego. While the park’s measurements would explain his lack of home runs (just three), it doesn’t explain how he fell so hard as a complete hitter.

The Cleveland Guardians need to be mindful of Josh Bell’s inconsistencies

There are some who are projecting Bell to get offers to the team of $64 million over four years. For a 30-year-old, that’s not bad. The length is what you’re looking for. But $16 million per year for a guy who could give you fewer home runs at first base than you already had in 2022? Naylor had 20 home runs in 2022, which is three more than Bell had and about $14 million-ish less as well.

If Bell was a consistent 25-homerun+ guy, ok, give him the $16 million, and don’t look back. That’s not the case with Bell. Even when he’s hitting well, his peak may not be as high as Naylor’s and you’re asking him to take fewer at-bats to make room for Bell.

That doesn’t make sense to me. Giving Bell that much money for such an inconsistent effort is just a foolish idea. If he’s willing to take half, great. But $16 million every year for four years is too much.