Josh Bell Promoted to Altoona

Picture Credit: piratesprospects.com

Before I start writing I want to let everyone who followed my blog before know that I am back and I will once again be operating this blog full time.  And to those of you who haven't followed the blog before now, welcome.  Now to the real article.

Today Josh Bell was promoted form high-A Bradenton to AA Altoona.  If you don't remember Josh Bell, he was the Pirates second round pick back in 2011, the same year we got Gerrit Cole.  He was the kid who was a top 15 prospect in the draft and sent out the letter to everyone saying that he was going to play for the University of Texas no matter who picked him.  Then the Pirates took him in round two and signed him to a record $5 million signing bonus.  The rest is history.

Anyway Bell's professional career started with a hiccup as he was injured most of the year and played sparingly in West Virginia.  He still managed to show some great power potential from both sides of the plate as a switch hitter.  This year he has exploded onto the scene.  He played in the futures game a few days ago and has been hitting a blistering .333/.380/.495 line in high-A.  He has been showing a great bat on both sides of the plate as well.

This is a big time step for Bell because it means he could be following in the path of Gregory Polanco.  Polanco was the same age when he made this jump and if Bell continues to hit as well as he has been and lights up the Winter Leagues like Polanco it is likely he could be in Pittsburgh this time next year.  But will he is the question.

The main problem is that he is an outfielder and if you haven't noticed, we don't need anymore of those.  The idea is that he could be moved to first base and I love this idea because he's big enough to play there and isn't that great defensively anyway.  But converting him there this off season could delay his call up by months as he learns the new defensive position while trying to keep up that offensive output.

I am also a bit fishy of this call up right now.  It is the time most guys move up but it's interesting because Bell is rumored to be the Pirates' top trade chip.  I also read that the Cubs have been scouting him in particular.  Could Bell have been promoted as a showcase over the next few weeks before the deadline?  Because if his bat continues to play that well in AA, that only increases his value.  I wouldn't trade him because we have plenty of other outfielders to part with and he is the only one that can realistically play first base.  Plus it is so rare to find a guy with that type of switch hitter power on both sides.

Bottom line is that this kid is going to be an absolute stud with the bat when he comes up to the bigs.  And this step shows that he will be arriving in the majors for the Pirates, or someone else, much sooner rather than later.

Tomorrow I will be starting a series of my favorite articles.  My trade target articles and they will continue all the way up until the 31st.  Stay tuned.