D-backs GM Mike Hazen talks extension, being in Arizona

Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen feels sick to his stomach watching playoff baseball.

Watching other teams fight for a World Series championship is one of his biggest motivators this offseason and what he calls unfinished business is in large part why he decided to stay with the D-backs.

On Wednesday Hazen told 98.7 FM Arizona Sports Station’s Doug & Wolf that he has bigger plans for the team than just an 85-win season.

“I think what we’re trying to build here is important,” Hazen said. “To me personally, it’s important to the people that I work with. Why we came out here, it’s not just me, it’s a number of us. When we all came out here together, we sort of had something in mind. Yes, there are personal goals that people have in this game as well, but for right now and into the foreseeable future, this is extremely important to me.

“Being here, what this community means for my family, what we’re trying to do I think is significant in its task given the situation we’re in in this division, that motivates us. We love it. It’s the ultimate challenge.”

The D-backs GM isn’t proud of finishing 20 games out of the division but considering the number of roster moves he made last offseason and into the 2019 season, he feels the team has been impacted positively and its mentality is important going forward.

His main focus is to continuously improve the D-backs and put them in a position to win a World Series.

“Everyday we go to work we have a responsibility to this organization,” he said. “People say this all the time and it’s cliche but I definitely feel that leaving what you’re building better than when you got here and I believe that if we don’t do that it’s a failure and I don’t want to fail.”

Hazen said what gets him out of bed in the morning is his motivation to help others in the organization experience the feeling of winning a championship the way he has in the past.

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