Twins urged to DFA $7 million veteran DH despite no clear replacement

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Twins urged to DFA $7 million veteran DH despite no clear replacement originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Minnesota Twins are not in great shape at 30-37 overall, but with a very weak American League, they're only 3.0 games back of the Wild Card.

If there's to be any hope of making the postseason this year, the Twins need to shake things up. Ideally, that shake-up would come on the offense with the release of a veteran player making $7 million this season.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller named Josh Bell, the $7M signing, as the player the Twins are trending towards cutting ties with this season. Even without a replacement waiting in the wings, this roster move would surely breathe new life into the offense.

Twins trending towards DFA'ing Josh Bell​

"But after getting out to a hot start through the first two weeks (3 HR, 1.066 OPS), Bell has been a mess over the past 50 games (2 HR, .524 OPS) - a DH who doesn't get many hits," Miller writes. "The only question is: When will a top prospect be ready to replace Bell?"

The Twins are surely getting close to cutting ties with Bell, as the $7 million slugger has a .637 OPS on the season and is accounting for negative 0.5 bWAR this season.

The 77 OPS+ he has this season is the worst mark of his 11-year MLB career, and bad enough that the Twins should seriously consider parting with him in the near future.

But, as Miller notes, the question then falls to who they could promote from the minor leagues to replace Bell in the lineup.

Walker Jenkins is the most obvious one, but his .785 OPS this season at Triple-A isn't exactly the most inspiring performance so far.

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Emmanuel Rodriguez, who has a .923 OPS this season at Triple-A, might've been a great option, but he's out for a while due to injury.

Gabriel Gonzalez would make sense as a long-term option if they release Bell, as would Hendry Mendez, both outfielders who could get long-term MLB spots if Bell is released.

The Josh Bell experiment hasn't worked out, and the Twins should be looking for ways to move on from the veteran slugger. If they DFA'd Bell, the replacement option would be an intriguing decision for Minnesota's front office.

Regardless of who the Twins decide to promote to the big leagues, there should be no reservations about Bell being DFA'd this season. He's not done enough to warrant a roster spot so far.

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