The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded first baseman Josh Bell against the Washington Nationals in exchange for throwing Eddy Yean and Wil Crowe. He Post-Gazette‘s Jason Mackey he was the first to report on the trade and Jon Heyman reported on the possibility of transportation.
Bell reaches the 2020 season, in which he had eight homers and 83 OPS + in nearly 200 bats, but had above-average production in some of his four seasons with the Pirates before. His best season came in 2019, where he won an All-Star selection and finished the year with 37 homers, 117 RBI and a 142 OPS +.
Bell covers an extreme need for nationals, who before this trade did not have a first base on their list of 40 men. In 2020, the nationals occupied the position mainly dividing the time between Eric Thames and Asdrubul Cabrera. Guys like Brock Holt and Josh Harrison also spent time in the corner. Overall, the top national bases produced a -1.0 bWAR and a league average, 784 PAHO in 2020.
Despite a low year in 2020, Bell should give them a boost on the plate by next year, even though the city’s first bass is seen as a generally poor defender at first (-32 DRS and – 19.9 UZR throughout his career according to FanGraphs). This trade would make even more sense if the National League continued to use a designated hitter next year. The 28-year-old is heading into his second year of arbitration and is expected to earn $ 6 million in 2021.
As for the potential return of the Pirates, they received third-placed nationals (Crowe) and sixth-ranked (Yean), according to MLB Pipeline, in return. Crowe, 26, started three nights in 2020, posting an ERA of 11.88 (12.31 FIP) in 8.1 entries. Prior to that, it released an ERA of 6.17 in 10 starts at AAA in 2019 after being elevated in the middle of the year from AA.
Yean, on the other hand, is a 19-year-old player from the Dominican Republic. Pointing to a recent growth spurt that helped his power launches, MLB Pipeline says, “With his stuff, size and delivery, Yean looks increasingly part of a future big league starter.” Yean hasn’t played any over the ball yet.
