Blue Jays continue front office makeover by hiring well-respected ex-MLB manager

The Toronto Blue Jays have been quite active so far this offseason with their overhaul at the management level. With the various changes in personnel, the Jays are hoping that the new faces could bring new strategies, hope and success to the organization as a whole.

On Friday, the Jays have continued with their makeover by hiring former Cincinnati Reds’ manager David Bell to take on a significant role in the front office. According to Blue Jays insiders Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi, Bell will become the team’s Vice President of Baseball Operations and Assistant General Manager ahead of the 2025 MLB season.

Bell had previously spent 12 years in the major leagues as a player, with stints in Cleveland, St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Milwaukee. His best season came in 1999 with the Seattle Mariners when he posted a .268 average, .763 OPS, along with 92 runs scored, 31 doubles, 21 home runs and 78 RBI in 157 games played. 

Following his retirement as a player, Bell began his extensive managerial and coaching career by spending four seasons as a manager with minor league affiliates to the Reds’ organization between 2009-2012. In doing so, he eventually landed coaching jobs back in MLB with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals for the next five seasons. By October of 2017, Bell was hired by the San Francisco Giants to be their VP of Player Development that ended up lasting only one year. Nevertheless, that important hire remains his only senior front office experience to date.

In 2018, Bell was finally recruited by the Reds to give him his first official gig as an MLB manager ahead of the 2019 season. From there, he would spend the subsequent six seasons with Cincinnati, posting a 409-456 record while leading the team to their only postseason appearance in 2020. Prior to the conclusion of 2024 season, he was officially let go by the Reds following a disappointing campaign in which they finished fourth in the NL Central.

With Bell having just limited senior front office experience in his career, the Jays are likely counting on his breadth of wisdom and experience gained from the diversity of managerial and coaching roles that he has undertaken during the past 15 years. Nevertheless, as a well-respected figure in the league, Toronto will hope that this new addition is a first major step in the right direction to get the team back on track for the 2025 MLB season.