Mike Bell to be new Twins bench coach

The Minnesota Twins have had quite a few coaches plucked from their system this off season. Among a couple of those coaches: former bench coach Derek Shelton is now residing as manager with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Former hitting coach James Rowson was hired by the Miami Marlins to be their new bench coach. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Twins have reportedly found their new bench coach in Mike Bell.

If the name rings a bell (sorry, I just had to), Bell is the brother of current Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell. He also comes from a long lineage of family that have also been heavily involved in Major League Baseball. Bell had been in many farm systems since being drafted in 1993, including the Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and more. He made 19 major-league appearances with the Reds in 2000, hitting .222/.323/.444 while mashing two homers. Bell was eventually hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007 to coach one of their affiliates and made his way to become the Director of Player Development for the club’s minor league teams.

After naming Edgar Varela the new hitting coach, the Twins still have to fill the assistant pitching coach spot vacted by Jeremy Hefner to become the pitching coach for the Mets before everything seems complete for the coaching side.

Welcome to Minnesota, Bell! (And take THAT, Arizona, for signing Bumgarner!)

UPDATE: The team has formally announced the hiring of Bell.