On the first day of last month’s winter meetings in Orlando, Twins manager Derek Shelton approached a member of Josh Bell’s agency, Boras Corporation, with a simple message.

“’Hey, we want Josh,’” Bell recalled Shelton telling his representative.

Bell and Shelton were together in Pittsburgh in 2020, during the latter’s first year as a manager, and Shelton was one of the reasons Bell inked a deal with the Twins last month. In doing so, he became the first major league free-agent addition the Twins had made all offseason.

“(The) Twins were the first team to reach out. Just having that familiar with Shelty and knowing Royce (Lewis) from the agency and whatnot, it felt comfortable for me and my family,” Bell said Thursday.

Bell, 33, signed a one-year deal with a mutual option worth a guaranteed $7 million and is expected to slot in at first base, likely with some time mixed in at designated hitter.

The durable first baseman — he’s played in at least 140 games in every year since 2017, excluding the COVID-shortened season  — had a strong finish to his 2025 season with Washington after changing up his work routine midseason, starting to hit more sinkers off the machine and using a heavier bat.

“(I was) just trying to stay underneath the ball, get balls in the air as best I can because I hit the ball hard enough, and I have pretty good pitch recognition and don’t chase too much,” Bell said. “When I do make contact, just try to get it in the air. And that’s what worked for me at the end of the year. Took that to the offseason.”

He also ditched golf, a new hobby he picked up last offseason, which he believed affected his swing. Throughout his career, he’s typically performed better against righties than lefties but hits splits haven’t been dramatic. Last year, they were, as he hit .265 against righties to just .151 against southpaws.

By the end of the year, he said he felt he “got back to” who he was as a right-handed hitter, and this offseason, he said he’s hit more than he ever has.

“Just trying not to lose feel and trying to come into camp ready to go,” he said. “I think that’s going to have a big play in the start for this year.”

Bell is in the same area of Texas as Lewis and said the two were planning on starting to hit and take grounders together as early as next week. As a 10-year veteran — the Twins will be his seventh major league team — joining a group with many young position players, Bell’s signing has another benefit, too: he expects to take on a mentorship role, as he had last year with the Nationals.

“You’ve got to understand where people are willing to listen or if people are kind of set in their way, but I’ll do what I can and hopefully help people find different routines to help them progress here in the big leagues,” he said.

Twins announce caravan plans

The Twins announced plans for the Winter Caravan later this month, a two-day swing through “Twins Territory” on Jan. 21-22, the days leading up to TwinsFest. Groups will head out in different directions, hitting nine different cities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. Shelton, along with bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins will participate in events, as well as Luke Keaschall, Mick Abel, Justin Topa and Alan Roden.

Announcers Cory Provus, Kris Atteberry, Glen Perkins and Audra Martin are also scheduled to appear on caravan stops while president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey will join in on a couple events, as well.

Briefly

The Twins have agreed to contract terms with all of their arbitration-eligible players (Lewis, Ryan Jeffers, Bailey Ober, Trevor Larnach, Cole Sands and Alex Jackson) except for starting pitcher Joe Ryan.

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