Diamondbacks will retain manager Torey Lovullo

The Arizona Diamondbacks are retaining longtime manager Torey Lovullo despite a third straight season of narrowly missing the postseason, as first reported by AZCentral.com’s Nick Piecoro and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert on Thursday.

Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro confirmed the deal got done on Thursday morning, reporting Lovullo did not know what direction the team wanted to go until he was informed on Monday that the Diamondbacks wanted him back.

Lovullo’s contract was up, and he admitted on Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Sept. 18 that he “probably” needed to make the playoffs to feel confident he would be brought back.

Instead, Lovullo will get a two-year deal, which lines him up contractually with general manager Mike Hazen.

Team president and CEO Derrick Hall has said multiple times publicly that this season was probably Lovullo’s best. The D-backs won 86 games, the most by a team outside the playoff bracket.

After Arizona’s season finale at Petco Park on Sunday, a teary-eyed Lovullo said he would love to be back, but he also used the phrase “I want to be wanted” several times.

Rumors quickly emerged about his candidacy for other jobs, such as the Seattle Mariners. Lovullo’s contract in Arizona was not set to expire until Oct. 31, so he could not speak to other clubs yet, per Gambadoro.

Lovullo has managed the D-backs for the past 10 seasons, as he is the third-longest tenured skipper in Major League Baseball behind Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He is also the winningest manager in franchise history with 750 victories, a 750-768 record.

Diamondbacks’ successes and failures under Torey Lovullo

(Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports)

The Diamondbacks have made the postseason twice under Lovullo, both times as a National League Wild Card team. His shining moment was in 2023, when Arizona improbably ran to the World Series, sweeping the Dodgers winning two road games in Philadelphia to capture the pennant. It was the franchise’s first World Series appearance since winning it all in 2001, but the D-backs lost the Fall Classic in five games to the Texas Rangers.

Expectations and payroll numbers increased over the next three seasons, with the club spending more money on its roster than it ever had previously.

The 2024 team missed the postseason via tiebreaker after an unprecedented doubleheader on the Monday after the regular season ended between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. The 2025 squad sold at the trade deadline and fought to get back in the race, getting eliminated in Game 160.

This year was one of the most challenging for Lovullo given the numerous crises.

The Diamondbacks entered the season with key pitchers Corbin Burnes, Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk still working their way back from elbow surgeries. Martinez did not return until August, Burnes in September and Puk suffered setbacks and never made it.

Arizona’s three superstars Geraldo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte each regressed from last season, and pitching injuries pressed the depth of the starting rotation.

The Marte no-show situation threw a wrench into this season, when on Aug. 17, Marte did not go to Fenway Park for a game against the Boston Red Sox.

This called into question the Diamondbacks’ handling of Marte’s absences over the years, how the clubhouse would respond and whether the Marte-Lovullo pairing would work after this season. Marte went on the restricted list during an important stretch of the season and eventually the IL. He came back after two weeks.

What went well for Lovullo and company was that the bullpen was electric this season, the deepest bullpen of the manager’s tenure, he has said. From the emergence of Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo, additions of Taylor Clarke and Jonathan Loaisiga and returns of Kevin Ginkel and eventually Martinez, the unit was the strength of the roster all season.

Paul Sewald did his job as the closer throughout the first half, but he struggled in June and July. The D-backs removed him from the closer role and eventually the roster, as Lovullo had to manage a closer-by-committee once again. For the most part, it went very well.

The defense was also much improved from the substandard 2025 team, which was a product of external additions such as Nolan Arenado but also the internal improvements of several players, notably Carroll in right field and Perdomo at shortstop.

Additionally, the Diamondbacks had a lot of grit this year, leading the league in comeback victories (47) and routinely having to grind out one-run games.

Despite injuries, underperformance of star players and some missteps from the front office (first base, lack of moves at trade deadline and big contracts that did not pay off to Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen), the Diamondbacks stayed in the playoff race up until the final weekend of the season. But an ugly bullpen game, one with puzzling management decisions, ultimately ended their run.

The Diamondbacks have stuck with Lovullo through some lean times. Lovullo has been candid over the years about his emotional drives home during a 52-110 season in 2021, the type of disastrous campaign that typically causes team leaders to lose their jobs. Keeping Lovullo, the Diamondbacks won 74 games in 2022 and 84 in 2023 to make the postseason and pay off the decision to keep the manager in place. He signed an extension through 2026 after the playoff run.

This offseason is going to be difficult to maneuver, but this decision provides some clarity.

There are Marte conversations to have and an expected lockout once the collective bargaining agreement expires in December. The organization still needs to agree on a Chase Field lease extension, as well.

The D-backs have a core in place, headlined by Gabriel Moreno and the aforementioned big three. The club decided Lovullo is the right voice to keep pushing this roster.

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