Stayed hot in September. This is actually his best month of the year so far, putting up a 151 wRC+.
Thats four months in a row with over a 120 wRC+. Why do we care about this? Because the knock on Bell has always been consistency. Even in his 2019, breakout year, he had a monster first half (really the first two months) and then only had one month of good performance after). Here, with Long and a supporting cast (or maybe just not being the ONLY good hitter), he has found consistency at the plate.
From May 9th (a full month after covid return), he's posted a .281/.365/.515 slash line (132 wRC+). I feel pretty comfortable in saying that if he doesnt get covid, his April is not nearly as atrocious as it was and he's sitting at a whole season of ~125 wRC+. Thats essentially what Pete Alonso has been this season.
He got 6.3 in arbitration last season. He has one more year of arbitration, where I would guess he gets about 9.5 million. 9.5 million is a steal for a first baseman who can put up 130 wRC+( or 30 homer/high 800s OPS or better). Ideally, I'd like a 3 year deal that ends when Soto hits free agency, but I imagine Bell will want at least one more year. So 3 years, 55 million, or 4 years, 70 million would fit nicely