Ring That Bell: Josh Bell is a Guardian!
Apollo: “You wanna ring the Bell?”
Rocky: “Ding…Ding”
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The Cleveland Guardians finished the 2022 season with a 92-70 record and ended up getting defeated three games to two in the Wild Card Round by Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees. By the way, that dude is a rich man now.
Anyway, despite a fantastic season by the Guards that had them battling it out with the Yankees in the playoffs, it felt like the team was still missing a piece in order to truly contend for the World Series Title.
The Guardians just signed Josh Bell to a two-year 33-million-dollar contract. Now, this franchise is notorious for being a bunch of cheapskates. That’s changing!
The 30-year-old veteran has certainly played his fair share of games throughout a seven-year career that began in 2016 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Most recently, Bell split time between the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals
Of course, those numbers aren’t the same as an Aaron Judge-type superstar. They are closer to the “solid” range and that’s exactly what the Guardians needed moving on to the 2023 season.
It appears Bell will play first base for the upcoming season and beyond. He’ll replace Owen Miller and Josh Naylor. Those guys will either not be on the team next season or shift to a different position.
This move, in addition to potential future moves this offseason, could be what makes the Guardians from just a contender that can dance with the Yankees but not actually win it all to a team that may be able to win it all.
A lot of fans, including myself, hated that the ownership changed the name from Indians to Guardians. However, there is a tremendous amount of respect for this organization that is finally spending the money on these players to make this roster formidable.
My biggest concern for Bell with these upcoming season would have to be potential injuries. After all, the man is 30 years old, which is not young for a baseball player. He’s played a total of 852 games in his career to date.
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To be frank, this winter weather and early darkness completely suck and I cannot wait for spring training and warmer weather. The Browns will always be fun to watch, but it’s the six other days of the week that suck (if the Cavs are off).
Welcome to Cleveland, Josh Bell. This team has the potential to be absolutely fantastic and that should have all fans very excited for this season. Let’s beat Aaron Judge and those Yankees in this year’s playoffs. No matter how much money he is making!
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