I have to say that the discussion on our article about whether or not to keep manager Torey Lovullo and GM Mike Hazen, might be one of the SnakePit’s finest hours. It’s obviously a contentious subject, but the comments were full of considered, well-expressed comments in all four corners of the discussion. Well done, folks. You don’t have to stray very far on the Internet to find cases where conversation on the topic was not as civil. It’s very much appreciated. Here’s how the voting eventually broke
down.
Put another way, we can add up the categories and figure out how many people wanted to keep each man. So that’s what we’ll do, because they do deserve separate consideration.
Torey Lovullo: 75% keep
Ask, and ye shall receive. For, lo: the three-quarters who voted to retain Lovullo’s services received an early off-season present with the announcement on Thursday that Torey had accepted a contract extension for the next two seasons, taking him through the end of 2027. This makes sense on a number of levels. It lines his contract up with that of Hazen, which is really what you want. If the team decides to move on from Hazen after 2027, it’s likely the new GM would want his own manager, aligned appropriately, and this will allow Lovullo to leave/be let go without being fired. I think he deserves that respect, given the decent way he has behaved throughout his tenure.
It also allows for continuity over what promises to be a fraught negotiation between owners and players over the new CBA, with the likelihood of a lockout at the end of December. A shortened “spring” – quotes used advisedly – would present a tough ramp-up for a new manager, unfamiliar with the players except on the broadest level. This way, we have a manager (and, as important in some areas, coaches) who already has an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. That should help the Diamondbacks be ready to go, out of the gate, whenever the season starts. With next year potentially more of a sprint than the usual marathon, that could be important.
Here’s a selection of comments from the post:
- LeftFieldCorNWer – “Given all the crippling injuries this year, coming in 10 games over Mt. 500 and staying in the hunt for a wild card slot in the toughest division in the league until the final weekend is a huge success.”
- piratedan7 – “There’s something to be said about the fact that TL is at the top of the speculation list for EVERY other job that is either open or speculated to be open.”
- C.Wesley Baier – “I think the real problem with Hazen and Lovullo is they have made decisions based on emotions rather than facts and logic. They took the wrong lessons from falling a** backwards into a world series run, and resigning Gurriel, Kelly, and Gallen wasn’t it.”
- Azdbcksfn1 – “I would rather lose with them playing Wally, Lawlar, Troy, Fernandez, and young guys getting experience than losing with Smith and Vargas. It would have been such valuable experience for them.”
- daybaseball – “Without Torey the wheels would have completely come off in 2026 from injuries and lack of timely hitting. Instead he had them playing nearly their best baseball of the season in the last week… It is near miraculous that they finished 10 games over .500 under those circumstances.”
- SnekBehindEnemyLines – “They went 28-21 in one-run games and actually won more games than their run differential suggested they should. At some point the guys on the field have to perform.”
- Johnneu – “The handling of the Marte saga was awful, again, and coddling him hurt the team. That sent a very poor message to the rest of the team. They played well without him in the lineup and I suspect they will not miss him next year.”
- WestCoastBaseball – “Being in the hunt until the 7th inning of game 162 with the under performance of key players, as well as, injuries and drama is a tremendous accomplishment… Torey masterfully maneuvered the pieces as well as any manager could.”
- JustRonM – “I don’t agree with the kid gloves handling of Marte and his subsequent torpedoing of team momentum the past three seasons, but overall we’d be hard pressed to get anyone better. The players like him, they play hard for him, and he’s a genuinely good human being.”
- GuruB – “Torey is one of the best managers in baseball, not all managers connect to his teams the way he does (go through a wall for him) Is he perfect? Absolutely Not. Right now, I am not sure there isn’t anyone better, that is available and in the DBacks Price Range.”
- Smurf1000 – “Torey is a phenomenal manager and a great leader. His best year as manager was probably this year, when he took a partially injured pitching staff, and a team with star players underperforming, and he managed to find ways to win, and finished 10 games over .500.”
Mike Hazen: 57% keep
The enthusiasm for Hazen was notably less, though still a majority. In particular, twenty-three percent of voters decided they wanted to retain Lovullo, but get a new GM. I think that’s fair. When it comes time to do our ratings for the year, I suspect Hazen’s grade will be considerably lower than Lovullo’s. This year, we saw mistakes like the signing of Zac Gallen, near-complete abdication of the first-base position, and lack of significant moves to strengthen the team (in particular, the starting rotation) at the trade deadline. Given the small margin by which the D-backs again missed the playoffs, the importance of these failures was certainly amplified.
However, we need to be fair, and give him credit for the things that worked. We’ll be going into more details about his best and worst moves tomorrow. But things like the Cardinals paying more money than the D-backs, for Nolan Arenado to hit thirty home-runs for Arizona, definitely fall into the former category. I suspect people understand that market size be damned, the Diamondbacks are still a small revenue franchise, and that trying to compete with the Dodgers and their multiple competitive advantages is never going to be easy. But there is clear room for improvement in the way the D-backs operate, especially in their development of pitching prospects.
As with Torey, here are some comments from the original post:
- Jeremy C. Young – “You can blame Hazen for signing the wrong pitchers, but honestly I loved most of those moves at the time he made them… At this point he might be a change of scenery candidate. If he won’t shake up the team, maybe he needs to be with a fresh team.”
- BTBaseball – “Mike has built a solid franchise over these 10 years… They have not found the formula Milwaukee and Tampa and to some extent Cleveland have found but they’re competitive. Keep Hazen – keep building.”
- DBackNation – “Losing guys like a Drew Hedman to the Cubs are the types of errors a true leader can’t afford to make… Having future core members of your executive leadership leave to go to a rival – that is where Hazen falls short.”
- doconnor – “With our budget and how juiced our division is, you can’t ask for more than being competitive. If your mindset is “WS or bust” then you’re going to have a bad time. You probably shouldn’t even watch baseball.“
- AZNailgal520 – “Every year he’s told that “payroll is being lowered” and it truly must be maddening to shop under those constraints! But Hazen smiles and never complains (outwardly) and plucks some very affordable diamonds in the rough, year after year. I think he’s a bit under appreciated.“
- SnekBehindEnemyLines – “Hazen has put together a pretty good core and made some really good moves along the way. I’d rather see them keep building on it and give some of the changes they’re making with pitching development a chance to work.”
- Preston Salisbury – “Hazen’s biggest issue has not been the big league roster. It’s in player development. Every player development success story happened primarily before Josh Barfield left for Chicago. The White Sox–notably–are in the postseason.”
- Prof – “I do not think that Hazen has earned more time. His consistent inability to identify good pitching –yes, Bumgarner, Montgomery, and colleagues e.g., we spent $40 mil this year on Gallen and Kelly! — and build effective bullpens is now legendary.”
- Kram Isterpf – “He’s made some good moves and some bad moves. What GM hasnt? Given the financial constraints, I think he’s done OK (not as well as Torey), but chances of finding better replacements for either seem pretty close to zero to me.”
