Twins add first baseman Josh Bell with agreement on $7 million contract, AP source says

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins and durable switch-hitting slugger Josh Bell agreed Monday on a one-year, $7 million contract, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

The person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because completion of the deal was pending a physical exam, said Bell will get a $250,000 signing bonus and a $5.5 million salary in 2026. The deal includes a mutual option for 2027 with a $1.25 million buyout for Bell, who also gets a hotel suite on road trips.

Bell projects to help fill a void at first base and designated hitter with the Twins for his 11th major league season. He hit .237 with 22 home runs and 63 RBIs this year for Washington.

The Dallas-area native has played in at least 140 games in each of his eight full major league seasons, topping 600 plate appearances five times.

Bell was selected in the second round of the 2011 amateur draft out of high school by Pittsburgh and made his major league debut in 2016. His best season came with the Pirates in 2019, when he made the All-Star team while hitting .277 with 37 home runs, 116 RBIs and a .936 OPS.

He has 193 homers and a .785 OPS over his career, almost entirely in the National League. Bell had stints with Miami, Arizona and San Diego, too. His only prior American League experience came in 2023 with Cleveland.

Over the last five years, Bell has switched teams seven times — including four trades. The Twins will be his sixth different team in less than four years.

This is the third straight offseason the Twins have used free agency for a stopgap first baseman, with the 33-year-old Bell following Ty France and Carlos Santana. After France was traded to Toronto on July 31, one of nine deals the Twins made that week leading up to the deadline, Kody Clemens took most of the playing time at first base.

Clemens, who hit 19 home runs in 112 games while also filling in at second base and every outfield spot, will likely slide into a utility backup role.

Though the Twins remain in a state of flux around their payroll for 2026 and beyond, with team ownership working on adding two new investment groups to help pay down debt, president Derek Falvey said last week at baseball's winter meetings that the front office won't shed any more salary and has a modest budget to work with to supplement the roster.

That means the Twins won't be forced to trade any of their All-Stars, center fielder Byron Buxton and starting pitchers Pablo López and Joe Ryan. Now that Bell is on board, the next target for Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll will be rebuilding the bullpen for new manager Derek Shelton after it was torn down during the trading spree last summer.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

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FILE - Washington Nationals' Josh Bell hits a double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Sept. 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr., File)

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorian police said on Wednesday that Mario Pineida, a 33-year-old Barcelona de Guayaquil defender and former national team player, was shot dead in an apparent attack as violence escalates in the Andean nation.

Another person who police did not identify was also killed in the incident, and a third was wounded.

Ecuador's Interior Ministry confirmed Pineida's death without providing details. Barcelona de Guayaquil said in a statement its fans are saddened by Pineida's death.

Pineida played eight games for Ecuador but was not involved in the team qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. His last game for Ecuador was at the 2021 Copa América, as a late substitute in a group-stage game against Brazil. He also went to the 2017 edition.

Pineida started his professional career at Independiente del Valle, where he played from 2010 to 2015. He then moved to the club of the coastal city of Guayaquil in 2016 and won two league titles there. The defender also had a brief spell at Brazil’s Fluminense in 2022.

Ecuadorian media reported the incident took place in the region of Samanes in the north end of Guayaquil, which lies 265 kilometers (165 miles) southwest of the capital Quito.

Ecuador is expected to have its most violent year on record with more than 9,000 homicides, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime. That figure was at 7,063 violent deaths last year and a then-record 8,248 in 2023.

President Daniel Noboa has pledged to fight criminal organizations that have expanded their operations in Ecuadorian territory in connection with international drug cartels.

In November, a 16-year-old footballer of Independiente del Valle died from a stray bullet, also in Guayaquil. Two months earlier, Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yépez, both players of Exapromo Costa, and Jonathan González, of 22 de Junio died from gunshot wounds.

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FILE - Ecuador's Mario Pineida, center, and Colombia's Abel Aguilar battle for the ball during their 2018 World Cup qualifying soccer match at the Atahualpa Olympic Stadium in Quito, Ecuador, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)