The Cleveland Guardians traded first baseman Josh Bell to the Miami Marlins for infielder Jean Segura and a minor league infielder on Tuesday.
Bell, 30, was signed to a two-year, $33 million contract in the offseason to pump up the Cleveland offense. He batted just .233 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs in 97 games before being moved at Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Overall, Bell has a .259 career average with 141 homers and 516 RBIs in 949 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2016-20), Washington Nationals (2021-22), San Diego Padres (2022) and Cleveland. He was an All-Star with the Pirates in 2019.
The Guardians said they are releasing Segura. He is owed $8.5 million in 2024.
Segura, 33, was a huge disappointment in his first season with Miami, batting just .219 with three homers and 21 RBIs. The two-time All-Star has a .281 career average with 110 homers, 513 RBIs and 211 steals in 1,413 games with six teams.
Cleveland also obtained prospect Kahlil Watson, who is currently at High-A Beloit. Watson, 20, was a first-round choice (16th overall) in the 2021 draft.
Watson is batting .206 in 58 games at Beloit.
The acquisition of Bell made first baseman Garrett Cooper expendable, and he was later traded to the Padres along with minor league right-hander Sean Reynolds and cash considerations in exchange for left-hander Ryan Weathers.
Cooper, 32, was batting .256 with 13 homers and 46 RBIs in 82 games this season. The 2022 All-Star had spent the past five-plus seasons with the Marlins.
Counting a brief stint with the New York Yankees in 2017, Cooper has a .271 career average with 52 homers and 207 RBIs in 440 games.
Weathers, 23, has been unable to stick with the Padres and was a dreadful 1-6 with a 6.25 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) with the team earlier this season before being demoted to Triple-A El Paso.
Overall, he is 5-13 with a 5.73 ERA in 43 appearances (29 starts) in three seasons with San Diego.
He is the son of David Weathers, who had two pitching stints with the Marlins.
Reynolds, 25, is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 24 relief appearances at Double-A Pensacola this season.
–Field Level Media