The Diamondbacks keep their bench boss. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that manager Torey Lovullo will return next year. He gets a two-year contract. As Piecoro points out, this aligns him with general manager Mike Hazen. Hazen’s most recent contract runs through 2028 with a club option for 2029. Lovullo has been Arizona’s captain for a decade. 2027 will be his 11th season at the helm. His tenure has had many ups and downs. The team won 93 games and reached the postseason in its first season. They averaged around .500 for a few years after that and had a nightmare season in 2021, losing 110 games that year. The club kept Lovullo at that time. After another losing season in 2022, they took a big step forward in 2023. They only won 84 games, but they got hot at the right time and reached the World Series, falling to the Rangers in five games. Since then it has not been easy sailing. The club increased its win total to 89 in 2024, but missed the playoffs. They dropped to 80-82 in 2025 and there were reports of discord in the clubhouse related to accusations that Ketel Marte was getting away with a lack of work ethic. The Snakes brought Lovullo back for 2026, but let him continue into the final year of his contract. It’s pretty rare for managers or executives to be on outgoing status, but that’s how Lovullo and the team proceeded through 2026. The season’s results were mixed. Arizona was in contention for most of the year, but again fell just short of a playoff berth with 86 wins. There was more drama surrounding Marte, as he reportedly failed to show up for a game at Fenway in August. He was initially placed on the restricted list, but was later moved to the disabled list with a knee injury. As the season ended and Lovullo’s contract was about to expire, his future was unclear. He spoke to the media after the final game of the season, with a video broadcast by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports, apparently unclear about his own status. “I don’t know where it is,” he said. “I have some decisions to make. I have some things to think about, and so do the D’Backs. Where it goes from here, I don’t know.” Despite mixed results on the field and reports of discontent behind the scenes, there have also been signs that Lovullo is well respected in Arizona and around the league. SI’s Alex D’Agostino recently spoke with several players on the roster who expressed their love for playing with Lovullo. Team CEO Derrick Hall clearly sees things similarly. “If you walk out this door, you’ll get a job in no time,” Hall said this week, according to Weiner. “And he should because I think he’s one of the best coaches in the game.” Hall may have been right. The uncertainty surrounding Lovullo was enough for at least one other club to sniff around. It was reported earlier this week that the Mariners had Lovullo as the leading candidate for their managerial vacancy. Now it looks like Seattle will have to cross his name off the list. The Diamondbacks came up short in 2026, but they have a lot of good things in store for 2027. Basically, the core of their lineup is returning. James McCann and Ildemaro Vargas are the biggest free agents on the position player side. The pitching staff has a few more notable guys heading to the open market, but the Snakes can go into 2027 with an on-paper rotation consisting of Eduardo Rodriguez, Corbin Burnes, Brandon Pfaadt and Merrill Kelly. There is mutual interest in meeting with Michael Soroka. The late-game trio of Juan Morillo, Brandyn García and Justin Martínez will also return next year. The club still feels Lovullo is the right man to lead them back to October, so they locked him up before the Mariners or any other club had a chance to pry him out of Arizona. The front office will try to strengthen the roster before Opening Day to give it the best chance of success. Photos courtesy of Joe Rondone, Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
