MLB Rumors: J.D. Martinez Eyed by D-Backs After Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers Contract

J.D. Martinez was excellent for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2023 season, hitting .271 with 33 homers, 103 RBI, 61 runs and a .893 OPS in just 113 games.

But he spent 110 of those games serving as the designated hitter, a role that the team's new $700 million man, Shohei Ohtani, will be filling for the next decade. Martinez isn't going to be back in Los Angeles, in other words, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Sunday that the Arizona Diamondbacks are "hopeful" of signing him in free agency.

Martinez, 36, would be an upgrade in that role for Arizona. The six-time All-Star would provide more pop than the collection of players the Diamondbacks used at designated hitter in 2023, which included Pavin Smith, Tommy Pham, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Evan Longoria, among others.

Nightengale added that Justin Turner was "also in play" for Arizona, who had a bounce-back season for the Boston Red Sox (.276 with 23 homers, 96 RBI and a .800 OPS) after a tough season in 2022, his final with the Dodgers.