Miami Marlins 1B has shaky value at the Trade Deadline

The Miami Marlins are headed for the Trade Deadline with a team not going to the playoffs. It's a sad development for a playoff team last season. The voting for the All-Star Game seems to reflect this poor situation as well. Peter Bendix gets a lot of the blame thrown his way, though it's highly debatable how much of this is on him. One thing we know is that a sell-off is coming...

How much can Josh Bell get the team back at the Trade Deadline?

It shouldn't be a surprise to see first baseman Josh Bell on the move in a few weeks. The slugger is currently sitting on a .242/..303/.373 batting line, with 8 home runs and 35 RBI in 83 games and 314 AB for the season. It's an uninspiring line and the facts that he's playing on a $16.5 million salary and is terrible defensively aren't helping him.

Is there much of a market for the 31 year old free agent to be? Sadly, I'm seriously questioning it. He's been worth an abysmal -0.9 WAR and his track record isn't particularly inspiring either. He's pretty inconsistent and has a career .258/.343/.466 bating line over his 9 years in the Major Leagues.

Josh Bell did show some promise in the past. He batted .261/.47/.476, with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 144 games and 498 AB in 2021. He played for the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres that season. He was even better during the notoriously "juiced ball 2019 season". That year, he batted .277/.367/.569, with 37 home runs and 116 RBI in 143 games and 527 AB. That still remains the best season of his career.

What would an acquiring team expect from Josh Bell? Sadly, not that much. In fact, I'd be surprised if he would even be in high demand. He seems to at best be a low average 20 home run bat with bad defense. Considering the Miami Marlins would be expected to eat most of his salary, a low level lottery ticket type of prospect seems to be the best expectation.