The Red Sox have reportedly made a new addition to their major league coaching staff.
According to multiple reports, the Red Sox are hiring longtime Houston Astros coach Jason Bell to manager Chad Tracy’s staff. Though the full scope of his responsibilities haven’t been finalized, he will reportedly serve as the club’s new outfield instructor.
News of Bell’s hire was first reported by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.
Bell spent the last 10 years serving in a variety of roles within the Astros organization, most recently as the club’s major league field coordinator for the past two seasons. Before that he spent one season as the MLB quality control coach and seven seasons in various player development positions in Houston’s minor league system.
During that time, Bell worked with Wilyer Abreu, who spent his first five-and-a-half professional seasons with the Astros prior to being traded to the Red Sox at the 2022 trade deadline for Christian Vazquez.
Bell also served on Team Israel’s coaching staff as first base coach in the World Baseball Classic this past spring and has coached in the Puerto Rican winter league.
Bell will now guide one of the most talented outfield groups in all of baseball. In addition to Abreu, who could potentially win his third career Gold Glove this weekend, the Red Sox also boast fellow Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and Roman Anthony, widely viewed as one of the top young players in the sport. The outfield also currently features Jarren Duran, Eli White and Nate Eaton, along with Masataka Yoshida and Jahmai Jones, both of whom serve primarily as designated hitters.
Bell fills a role most recently held by Pablo Cabrera, who assumed outfield instruction responsibilities after Alex Cora and several of his coaches were fired in April. Cabrera took over for Kyle Hudson, who had held the job since 2023, but is returning to his original role as minor league defensive coordinator.
Cabrera also served as first base coach, which is one of two positions known to be vacant at this point in the offseason. Chad Epperson, who took over as third base coach following the staff purge in April, is also going back to the minors and will serve as the new manager of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.