However you define normal, right-handed reliever Heath Bell likely doesn’t fit the definition. From crazy-eyed headshots to unexpectedly comical entrances (see video below), the veteran right-hander is known as much for his eccentricities as his late-inning stature. In typical Bell fashion — therefore atypical for just about anyone else — the 37-year-old free agent took to Derek Jeter’s new Web site The Players Tribune today to announce he has signed a deal with the Nationals.  Bell didn’t specify the type of deal in his essay, but it is a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp given his recent struggles in the majors and even in Triple-A. Bell’s major league base salary will be $1 million and it could nearly double with incentives if he pitches well, according to a person familiar with the deal.  The deal gives Bell another chance to rediscover the form that made him an All-Star from 2009 to 2011. Bell was the man who succeeded Trevor Hoffman as closer before the 2009 season, and he made sure San Diego hardly noticed the difference, averaging 44 saves a year for the next three seasons: his 132 saves in that span were the most in Major League Baseball.  But after departing San Diego for Miami as a free agent prior to the 2012 season, Bell never regained that form. After signing a three-year, $27 million-dollar deal with the Marlins, ERA jumped three full points and never fell back. He blew four saves in the first month of the season, and never really found his groove again. He bounced from the Marlins to the Diamondbacks in 2013, and spent time in the minors with Baltimore and the Yankees last season before wrapping up with the Rays. In 13 major-league games with Tampa Bay last year, he pitched to a 7.27 ERA.  Bell addressed those struggles in the essay in which he announced his signing:  “But resilience is what a relief pitcher must have. I wouldn’t want to do anything else: you live and die by your last outing, by your last at-bat, by your last pitch. It’s what it means to be a closer. There’s nothing like it. Sure, you’re going to have hot streaks and cold streaks. But what I’ve learned from years of pitching on the biggest and not-so-biggest stages is that maybe more than any other position, the reliever’s challenge is mental. The reliever’s challenge is to come in the game when it really matters, when all the chips are down, when the game seems to slow way down. Sometimes you only need to get three outs. Three little outs – that’s going to be the title of my autobiography if I ever write one. You might only have to throw eight pitches. But those eight pitches take on the weight of the world.”  When he’s in top form, Bell has a mid-90s fastball that he uses confidently within the zone. His unorthodox motion adds to the deception he augments with a curveball and a change-up. Control with those off-speed pitches — something Bell has struggled with in recent years — has proven a key to his success: the less likely he is to throw one of them for a strike, the more hitters can sit on a fastball that boasts good velocity, but often little movement.  Bell is one of several players the Nationals signed to minor-league deals in the past week. The others:  – OF Delta Cleary Jr., 25: Rockies’ 37th-round pick in 2008 draft. Listed on Harrisburg’s roster.  – IF Mario Lisson, 30: career minor-leaguer originally signed as undrafted free agent by the Royals in 2002  – 1B Clint Robinson, 29: Royals’ 25th-round pick in 2007 draft. Has three hits in 14 Major League plate appearances with Royals (2012) and Dodgers (2014)  – RHP Mitch Lively, 29: Rockies’ 16th-round pick in 2007 draft. Finished last season in AAA.  – RHP Paul Demny, 25: Nationals’ 6th-round pick in 2008 draft. Had 2.88 ERA in 22 games with Harrisburg last season.  And now ladies and gentlemen, Heath Bell:  Chelsea Janes covers the Nationals for The Washington Post.
The veteran reliever took to Derek Jeter's player-driven website, The Players Tribune, to announce he's signed with Washington.