The Man: Getting to know Jay Bell

"The man."
That was how Tyler Wade described Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders first-year manager Jay Bell.
But the New York Yankees utility man didn't stop there.
"The man. The man," Wade repeated twice more. "I met him a couple years ago, and he's passionate about baseball, which I can rally behind - I know a lot of players can rally behind. He has a lot of experience, played in the big leagues for a lot of years. I don't know, (18) years? I don't know? I long time. He's a guy I'm excited to play for."

But it isn't just Wade who's singing the praises of a man who hasn't even managed a single regular-season game for the RailRiders yet.
Look up and down Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's opening day roster, not a single RailRider has a less than glowing remark of the new manager, whether they've just had interactions with him during the past few spring trainings or played for him last season with Double-A Trenton or in 2017 with High-A Tampa.
"I played for Jay a few times in spring training before this year," RailRiders catcher Kyle Higashioka said. "He's very laid back, easy to play for. Just a really good guy, too. Knows his stuff. I think it's going to be a really fun year and we're going to do really well."
"He's very personable," Wade added. "He's a guy you can have a conversation with about anything and it's never going to be awkward or that I feel like it's going to be a conflicting conversation. I feel like I can go to him about anything. I feel like Jay's a good guy to talk to, for sure."
That personability is a part of Bell's managerial style that finds most important.
Throughout the course of Bell's playing career, he has taken something from every manager he's played for, whether it be Jim Leyland while with the Pittsburgh Pirates or Buck Showalter as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks or Bob Boone in Kansas City. That's why Bell admits that his managerial style is almost completely plagiarized.
From his time with Leyland (1989-1996), the manager he idolizes most, Bell took away the former Pirates manager's style to form relationships with all kinds of people - from players to front office and clubhouse staff to the media.
"Relationally, he was really good. But he believed in himself and he believed that his message was true," Bell said of Leyland. "More than anything, my relationship with the players is most important to me. I want them to succeed. I want them to be as good as they possibly can be, but I want to be as honest as I possibly can be with them so they can get the most out of their abilities."
It doesn't matter if it's a successful big leaguer like right-hander Gio Gonzalez, who's trying to make it back to the majors, infielder Gosuke Katoh, who's a 2014 second-round draft choice and on a Triple-A roster for the first time, or right-hander Chance Adams, who's looking to regain that once top-prospect form.
Bell wants every one of the 25 players on the RailRiders' roster to make the bigs at some point in their career, even though he knows it's unlikely just based on the percentages.
"Whenever you have the opportunity to send somebody somewhere where they want to go, just the feeling that we get is pretty special," Bell said. "Our objective is to have them, and while we have them here, to help them to improve as much as possible, but at the same time we want them to go away and never come back. We want them to go to the big leagues and never return to Triple-A."
Bell's desire to see each and every one of his players make the majors doesn't get lost on the RailRiders either.
For someone like Ryan McBroom, who spent some time with Bell last season in Double-A after a position crunch in Moosic, there's an appreciation of the first-year Triple-A skipper's yearning to see each and every RailRider get better.
"He's a guy that just get it. He gets the whole process. He went through it," McBroom said. "And he's here for us. He wants to see us succeed and that's it. That's bottom line. He wants to see his players succeed, which is awesome."
Bell brings to the RailRiders something that each and every one of them desire: Sustained success at the next level.
Bell played in the majors for 18 seasons. He was a two-time All-Star, finished on the MVP ballot three times and won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove. But most importantly, he's a World Series champion. Doing so against the very organization he now works for, back in 2001 as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"He's professional," RailRiders outfielder Zack Zehner said. "He brings (18) years of big-league experience to the clubhouse. He's won a championship at the highest level. So, whenever you have someone leading your ship with that resume, you listen, you follow. You know he's going to take you to a good spot. You know he's going to bring and teach you everything you need to know to be a successful big leaguer because he's done it. You're just trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible."
While Bell is well aware that his No. 1 goal as the RailRiders manager is to prepare his players for whenever the Yankees need them, he still wants to win. He did it at the High-A level when he was managing the Tarpons and last season with the Thunder.
Bell understands that the RailRiders have been one of the top teams in the International League the last few seasons, making the postseason each of the last four years, and doesn't plan on that changing under his watch.
"I love to win, and I'd love to win a championship and all that kind of stuff. That is something we look forward to every year," Bell said. "Every night, whenever we get through with the game and we shake hands, that is a reward for a job well done that particular day."