MLB General Managers Reportedly Think J.D. Martinez is a Perfect Fit For This American League Team

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, general managers around baseball think that free agent slugger J.D. Martinez is best suited to join the Cleveland Guardians this offseason.

Per Nightengale:

The perfect fit for DH J.D. Martinez, GMs say, are the Cleveland Guardians, who have spent just $1.1 million this winter.

Martinez would undoubtedly help Cleveland's offense, which has been notoriously light over the last few years. The Guardians have one of the best offensive pieces in baseball in Jose Ramirez and pair him with young slugger Josh Naylor. But beyond that, the team is full of contact hitters like Steven Kwan, Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw.

The Guardians missed the playoffs last season, finishing in the third place in the American League Central, and have seen the Tigers and Royals improve around them, so if they want to be competitive again, they may need to strike.

The 36-year-old Martinez is coming off a fantastic year for the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he hit .271 with 33 homers and 103 RBI. He put up those numbers in just 113 games and made the All-Star team again.

He's a six-time All-Star who has played for the Astros, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Red Sox and Dodgers. He starred for Detroit from 2014-2017 before being traded to Arizona at the trade deadline. Lifetime, he's a .287 hitter with 315 homers and 1,002 RBI. 

With Cleveland, the issue is almost always about money. Martinez played on a $10 million deal last season, which seems affordable for Cleveland to replicate, but after that year, Martinez may very well want more.

Spring training begins in less than two weeks.