The 2026 season is officially in the books, at least as far as the Diamondbacks go. For the third year in a row, it’s a case of, “Close but no cigar”, missing out on the playoffs by less than a handful of games. Of particular note this year, is the situation of manager Torey Lovullo, whose contract has now effectively expired. He signed a three-year contract after the run to the World Series in 2023, but the lack of any extension became an increasingly elephant-shaped object in the room, as we moved
through this season. A decision on Lovullo’s future is likely to be made and announced in the next few days, so let’s chew over the possibilities.
The Mike Hazen and Torey Lovullo connection
Perhaps the most obvious factor is, what happens with regard to Diamondbacks’ GM, Mike Hazen. He brought in Torey Lovullo in early November 2016, just a few after taking over, and that has been the situation ever since. It is easily the most stable partnership in franchise history. Lovullo is the longest tenured Arizona manager, and it’s not close: he has managed 1,518 regular season games, which is more than twice as many as anyone else (Kirk Gibson’s 728 is next). Indeed, across all of MLB, Lovullo has outlasted 27 of the other managers present when he was appointed. Only Dave Roberts in Los Angeles and Kevin Cash in Tampa have been in their positions for longer.
Hazen has four General Managers with more tenure than him, but may be on thinner ice than Lovullo. Despite franchise-record payrolls in 2024 and 2025, and not far short this year, the team has not reached the playoffs. There are legitimate questions to be raised about Hazen’s ability at constructing a major-league roster. While he is officially under contract through the end of 2028, it may be that the team is not willing to wait our those two further seasons, and opts to go in a different direction. If a new General Manager is brought in, it’s highly likely he will want the opportunity to pick his own manager.
Mike Hazen’s successes and failures
The bottom line is that, since his rookie success in 2017, the Diamondbacks have reached the post-season only once in the last nine years. Now, it’s undeniably a factor that being in the same division as the Dodgers makes things exponentially harder. They have won over 90 games (or equivalent) fourteen years in a row. Since 2013, they have won over a hundred games more than any other team. At $334 million per year, their TV deal alone is more valuable than all the D-backs revenue. Now resources aren’t everything. But the Dodgers are scarily well-run too, currently having the #1 farm system. Beating that? Good luck. Competing for a wild-card spot is the best-case scenario.
On that basis, Hazen has done well enough, keeping the team in the race four consecutive Septembers. It does seem that a lot of fans forget the horrors of the before times. In the five years before Hazen took over, the Diamondbacks didn’t have a single winning season. 2020-22 were pretty ugly as well. But since then? The D-backs have a .523 winning percentage, sixth-best in the NL, despite only one playoff appearance. Is “there or thereabouts, and hope things break our way” good enough? Many fans on social media would reject that, but I’m more pragmatic. I lived through 2004 and 2021. I have no desire to do so again.
That said, the current GM has failed in a number of areas, most notably on the pitching side. The big ticket free-agent signings in the Hazen era have largely been disastrous: Madison Bumgarner, Jordan Montgomery and (so far) Corbin Burnes, with Eduardo Rodriguez also terrible up until 2026. Even this year, we signed Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, both of whom underperformed. The farm system has been little if any help. The most productive prospect drafted or signed by Hazen is Ryne Nelson, at a total of just 5.1 bWAR. Next is… Juan Morillo (2.3). Then there’s the Arizona bullpen, which until the second half of this year, has been an annual disaster.
The position players have been a better group. Corbin Carroll has been great, and the extensions signed by him and Ketel Marte have already repaid their value. Christian Walker, Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno all definitely count on the plus side of the Hazen ledger. But there have been misses as well. While the Twitiots would tell you Pavin Smith is the worst player in baseball, resigning Lourdes Gurriel Jr was a far bigger mistake. Although I will agree, the debacle which was Arizona’s first-base this year might have been key in the team missing the playoffs. Watching Jake McCarthy bat .291 for Colorado was also annoying.
Torey Lovullo’s successes and failures
It’s a lot harder to assess a manager, because it’s very much an “iceberg” position. By which I mean, ninety percent of what managers do, is invisible to fans. We see the pitching changes and the line-up. But the vast bulk of the work that goes on in the clubhouse, forging 26 individuals into a cohesive unit, happens entirely out of sight. When it does come to the surface – as with KetelGate – it’s rarely a good thing. While we still don’t know everything that happened, I feel I can confidently say, that whole situation, from a managerial point of view, was an absolute no-win. There’s no way to navigate that minefield in a way where everyone was happy.
I do think there are times where Torey does seem to have a case of “foot in mouth” syndrome. Most recently, after Saturday’s key defeat in San Diego, Lovullo put rookie pitcher Jose Cabrera into a key game to protect a one-run lead. Cabrera imploded, allowing five runs while recording four outs. Asked afterwards why, Lovullo answered, “I just felt like I wanted to see what Cabrera could do.” This is either terrible bullpen management, or terrible public relations. I’m inclined towards the latter, and suspect he didn’t actually throw the pitcher in there on a whim. But that’s what it sounds like, and perception is often stronger than reality.
It is interesting that those closer to Lovullo typically think more highly of him. Jack, for example, often gets accused of being a Torey mouthpiece. But I think he genuinely does believe Lovullo does a good job, all things considered. This comes from seeing him much closer up than the Twitiots, so should certainly not be discounted. Team president Derrick Hall also publicly praised the manager, saying “This year is probably his best year… I mean, he’s won, six out of 10 years he’s had a winning record. So, I mean Torey’s done a great job for us and he continues to… There’s so many factors, but he’s done a terrific, terrific job this year.”
Of course, votes of confidence from higher up for subsequently fired managers are a dime a dozen. And Lovullo himself recently said he thinks he needed to make the post-season: “The realities of it, when I sit back and I think about it at night, we got to get to this big dance. If we do, things will take care of itself. If it doesn’t, I’m in a totally different evaluation space.” That hasn’t happened, and for now, we can only wait and see what the team decides needs to be done. But if you were in charge of the Diamondbacks, and looking to build for the future, what would you do with Mike Hazen and Torey Lovullo? And if the answer is to move on, who should replace them?
That’s what the poll below is for, and as always, please feel free to explain your reasoning in the comments.
