The Miami Marlins may have to deal with yet another mistake

There are lots of roster news for the Miami Marlins this week. Despite a poor season, there are however some potentially positive surprises as well. The subject of this article however is the streaky and struggling first baseman Josh Bell. Bell picked up his $16.5 million player option for next season and well..he hasn't been worth the money at all.

Josh Bell has been a major disappointment for the Miami Marlins this season.

"Reliable" and "consistent" are two words that you can never really describe Josh Bell with. Bell has been worth -0.3 WAR this season. He's batted .200/.291/.307, with 4 home runs and 13 RBI, in 38 games and 140 AB. He was better last season, when he batted .247/.325/.419, with 22 home runs and 74 RBI, in 150 games and 547 AB split between the Cleveland Guardians and The Fish. He specifically batted .270/.338/.480 in 53 games and 200 AB for The Fish.

From 2016 to 2020 he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .261/.349/.466 throughout that time. Bell's best season came in 2019, when he batted .277/.367/.569, with 37 home runs and 116 RBI. This was the infamous "juiced-ball" season, so you obviously have to take those results with a grain of salt.

Josh Bell moved on to the Washington Nationals in 2021. That season, he batted .261/.347/.476, withy 27 home runs and 88 RBI, in 144 games and 498 AB. He split 2022 between Washington and the San Diego Padres. He batted .266/.362/.422 with 17 home runs and 71 RBI, in 156 games and 552 AB.

It's obvious that Bell has 20 home run power, but he's been a different player in seemingly every season of his career. One thing that's clear about him is that he's just not that good. If his inconsistent hitting wasn't bad enough, he also is known as a poor defender, making him more suitable for the DH position.

Josh Bell is almost certainly not getting anywhere close to $16 million in free agency after this season. The Miami Marlins are almost certainly not bringing him back and he is unlikely to be worth anything at the Trade Deadline. Jake Burger is likely to take over for him next season by the way. Josh Bell ended up being a terrible acquisition for the Miami Marlins.