Rangers Former First-Rounder Mike Bell Dies Of Cancer

Mike Bell was the grandson of the long-time Reds great Gus Bell and the son of former Rangers great Buddy Bell

Mike Bell, a Texas Rangers first-round pick in the 1993 Major League Draft and a bench coach for the Minnesota Twins, has died after a battle with cancer, the Twins announced. Bell was 46.

Bell was a native of Cincinnati with deep baseball ties. He was the grandson of the long-time Reds great Gus Bell, the son of former Rangers great Buddy Bell, and the brother of David Bell, the former Major League third baseman who is now the manager of the Reds.

Mike Bell was chosen No. 30 overall by the Texas Rangers in that 1993 draft. Though he never made it to the majors with the Rangers, his selection did begin a long and winding path through the sport for the baseball lifer.

Four years after being drafted, Mike Bell was later traded to the Anaheim Angels, in October of 1997. After that he was selected in the expansion draft two weeks later by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who then traded him to the New York Mets three months later.

Bell finally made it to the majors in 2000, with his hometown Reds.

Bell retired as a player following the 2005 season, at which time he joined the Diamondbacks as manager in their minor league system. He worked for that organization for 14 years before moving to Minnesota to serve as the bench coach for the Twins.

Bell is survived by a wife and three children. Our condolences to his baseball families in Texas, Arizona, Minnesota and Cincinnati, and to the Bell family.

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