D-backs’ Lovullo not worried about GM Mike Hazen, Boston job opening
Sep 10, 2019, 2:47 PM
General manager Mike Hazen of the Arizona Diamondbacks watches batting practice during a postseason workout at Chase Field (Photo by Sarah Sachs/Arizona Diamondbacks/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Sachs/Arizona Diamondbacks/Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks are burdened with a good problem to have: They have a competent GM who could draw interest from other teams.
That became especially relevant this week when the Boston Red Sox, Hazen’s former employer, fired their president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski. Hazen was technically the GM in Boston for one season, but worked under Dombrowski when it came to baseball decisions. Now, he’s leading the baseball operations department in Arizona.
So, many asked the question after Dombrowski was let go over the weekend: Would the Red Sox and Hazen be mutually interested in reuniting, this time with Hazen in charge?
In his weekly interview with Burns & Gambo on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said he’s not worried about that.
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“Not whatsoever,” he said Tuesday. “Mike and I have great conversations. We’ve been doing this a long time, and we both have the same dream and the same goal, every single day, and that’s to work tirelessly for the Arizona Diamondbacks daily to help us win a world championship. I know he’s aligned with that, we talk about it often. We know that’s the big plan. We don’t lose sight of what’s happening day by day.
“I’m not concerned about him leaving the organization whatsoever. I know that he wants to win a world championship as badly as I do in Arizona.”
When asked to clarify that he believes Hazen would want to stay in Arizona, even if the Red Sox were interested in his services, Lovullo replied, “I do. I feel very strongly about that.”
On Monday, The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan reported that a Diamondbacks source did not expect the Red Sox to inquire on Hazen, and that Arizona can deny Boston to permission to speak to their GM, because he’s under contract.
“Now, the same does not hold true for assistant GMs Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter, who also have Red Sox roots,” Buchanan wrote. “Both are viewed as future GMs, and Sawdaye has previously been considered for such jobs with the Giants and Twins.”
