David Bell is back on his feet less than two months after being fired by the Cincinnati Reds.
Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported on Friday that the ex-Reds manager Bell has landed an executive job with the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto is hiring Bell as their new vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager, and he will be overseeing their player development, Davidi adds.
The 52-year-old Bell played 12 seasons as an infielder for six different MLB teams (including going to the World Series with then-Cleveland Indians in 1995 and again with the San Francisco Giants in 2002). After retiring as a player, Bell went into coaching and earned assistant coach positions with the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bell was then hired by the Cincinnati Reds as their manager in 2019, a position that he held for six seasons. But Bell’s time in charge of the Reds was largely underwhelming as he went 409-456 (.473) overall and made just one playoff appearance (getting swept out of the Wild Card round in 2020). Cincinnati decided to fire Bell in September, just before the end of the 2024 season. They have since hired Terry Francona as their new manager.
While Bell does not have any prior background as an executive, he brings plenty of general baseball experience to the table. With the Toronto heading into an offseason in which they reportedly have some very ambitious plans, Bell will now be riding shotgun for those.
