The Toronto Blue Jays announced on Friday that they’ve hired David Bell to be their vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager. Bell, 52, was let go as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in September after six seasons in that position.
Bell played 12 seasons in the big leagues and is a third-generation major leaguer, with his grandfather, Gus, and his father, Buddy, having also played in the big leagues. David’s brother Mike, who died in 2021 of kidney cancer, also played and coached in Major League Baseball.
Since retiring from the big leagues in 2006, David Bell has held a number of coaching positions in the major and minor leagues. From October 2017 until he took the job managing the Reds the following October, Bell served as the farm director for the San Francisco Giants.
In his new role, Bell will oversee player development and the physical and mental performance departments for Toronto.
This is the second significant front-office move for the Blue Jays this week. The club promoted Marc Tramuta to be their amateur scouting director. Tramuta joined the Blue Jays from the Mets in 2023 as a special assistant, player personnel.
In 11 seasons with New York, Tramuta held several roles, including amateur scouting director. During his time with the Mets, Tramuta oversaw the selections of several current big leaguers, including Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos and Pete Crow-Armstrong. He also spent time as an area scout with the Orioles and previously worked for the Blue Jays in a variety of scouting roles. He was the Blue Jays Scout of the Year in 2007.
(Photo: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
