3:54pm: MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli spoke to Orioles' president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who denied that Bell's promotion had anything to do with a pending trade of either Tejada or Ty Wigginton (Twitter link).
3:08pm: With Luke Scott headed to the disabled list, the Orioles have called up top prospect Josh Bell from Triple-A according to a team press release. Bell was acquired from the Dodgers in the George Sherrill trade last year, and he's batting seventh in tonight's lineup.
This is Bell's first time in the big leagues, so the team has already delayed his free agency and arbitration eligibility by one season. The 23-year-old was hitting .266/.311/.455 with 24 doubles and ten homers in 309 Triple-A plate appearances before being called up.
Since Bell is a third baseman, it's reasonable to think that this move is the first step towards a Miguel Tejada trade, with the team getting a look at his replacement before they go ahead and take the plunge. The Phillies, Twins, and Angels could all be suitors for the 2002 AL MVP, who is in tonight's lineup as the designated hitter.
Is there any confirmation that other teams have interest in Miggy, or are you just matching him with teams that have current holes at 3B?
Just matching them up based on need.
The Twins won’t want him. They always get “matched up” and have they ever wanted him? No.
I’d rather them play Valencia.
It would be nice to see Bell hit lefties at all before getting the call.
Even though he isn’t in LA’s farm system anymore, I hope Bell does just as good as he is projected. It would also be another reason to despise the trade for Sherrill who has been atrocious this year. If I hear one more complaint about mechanics or how he is working on making “adjustments,” I’m going to have an aneurysm.
I watched Bell when he was with the Lookouts (Dodgers AA) and he was awesome there. Probably the best power of any player in the Southern League last year. Great group of rookies this year.
Best power? in the Orioles farm system this year he has 10 homers in 286 AB. Also he is only hitting .266 with a .455 slg. I don’t think he is ready and might even be back down in the minors soon.
Last season when he was with the Lookouts, as I mentioned above… Players can have good power, but it’s more about plate discipline and pitch recognition. Last season he did hit .295 20 76. AT&T field in Chattanooga is very difficult to hit homers in. Not hard to read that I mentioned: Lookouts, Dodgers, AA, so yeah I never mentioned the Orioles or the fact that he was ready. Thanks for (not) reading!
I never said you mentioned the Orioles. See how i said the ORIOLES FARM SYSTEM THIS YEAR I was just showing you what the “The best player in the southern league last year, is doing this year”
I guess it’s because you put a ? in the middle of a sentence. It should have said “Best Power? In the Orioles farm system this year he has 10 homers in 286 at bats. Also, he is only hitting .266 with a .455 slg. I don’t think he is ready, and might even be back down in the minors soon.”
Notice how I added commas for proper sentence structure, it makes it possible to actually read your statement.
The whole purpose of my initial comment was to say, I had seen him play and was pretty impressed. There is no question he probably isn’t ready for the majors and could be sent down, but I never said he should be there in the first place.