Josh Bell exercises player option with Marlins

Switch-hitting slugger Josh Bell has exercised his player option for the 2024 season, as noted by Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. 

In doing so, Bell has opted to remain with the Marlins, where he figures to be the club’s primary first baseman in 2024, rather than return to the open market this offseason. The Marlins have since announced the news.

Bell’s opt-out was among the more borderline cases this option season, particularly among positional players. Bell, 31, struggled a bit in the first half of the season with the Guardians, slashing just .233/.318/.383 with a below-average wRC+ of just 96 in 393 trips to the plate with Cleveland this season. 

Bell was then dealt to Miami at the trade deadline, however, and quickly caught fire with the Marlins. In 224 trips to the plate throughout the remainder of the season, Bell slashed .270/.338/.480 (119 wRC+) while doubling his season home run total, from 11 to 22.

While his run in Miami did little to salvage his overall season numbers, leaving him with a 105 wRC+ that was 17th among 24 qualified first basemen this year, the hot 53-game stretch was essentially in line with what Bell had produced in both 2021 and 2022 with the Nationals and Padres. 

In a relatively weak free-agent class for hitters, that made it at least conceivable that Bell would decline the option and test the open market, where he’d be one of the better first base/DH bats available alongside Brandon Belt. 

That said, Bell’s final decision wasn’t much of a surprise; a poll of MLBTR readers just before the postseason began indicated that a whopping 72% of respondents believed Bell was better off exercising his 2023 option in pursuit of a stronger platform year in 2024.

For the Marlins, the return of Bell is surely a relief to the club that parted with 2021 first-round pick Kahlil Watson in order to acquire him from the Guardians at the deadline this year. Bell and fellow deadline addition Jake Burger both helped to spark the club’s offense down the stretch in 2023, and with the club’s primary DH in Jorge Soler headed for free agency the duo figures to help anchor the lineup alongside second baseman Luis Arraez.

Of course, more will be needed to help the club reach the postseason for a second consecutive season. The club’s offense ranked 20th in the majors last year with a 94 wRC+, and the loss of Soler’s 126 wRC+ bat will further limit the club’s offensive potential without external additions. 

While the return of Bell on a one-year, $16.5M pact leaves the club with less payroll space to facilitate those additions, they still have $20M in budget space available even if they plan on just matching their 2023 payroll of $110M, per RosterResource.