Diamondbacks agree to extension of manager Torey Lovullo through 2026 after World Series appearance following three consecutive one-year extensions

The Arizona Diamondbacks may have lost the World Series in five games to the Texas Rangers, but manager Torey Lovullo is still being rewarded with an extension for his team’s progress.

A club source said Monday that the Diamondbacks are extending Lovullo’s contract through 2026. azcentral. In June, he was given his third consecutive one-year extension as the club dealt with his contractual situation on a season-by-season basis.

Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen was also in the final guaranteed year of his contract at the time of Lovullo’s last short-term extension. However, Hazen signed a five-year extension in September, allowing him to re-sign the Arizona boss for a longer period after the World Series appearance.

“Torey and I had a conversation when we extended him for a year and I said, ‘Look, we’ve got to get through the rest of the season,’” Hazen said in early October.

“I said if good things happen and we get to the playoffs and we get where we need to go, he and I will have another conversation. I said, “I promise I’ll sit down with you and we’ll talk about this again.”

The Diamondbacks defeated the Dodgers and Phillies en route to the 2023 World Series

Lovullo has been in charge of the Diamondbacks since 2017. Through his years as a manager in Arizona, he compiled a record of 495-537.

Last season he led the Diamondbacks to an 84-78 record, followed by a postseason run this year in which they eliminated the LA Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies en route to the World Series.

Hazen wasn’t the only one impressed with Lovullo’s performance this season.

“I don’t think he could have managed them better,” assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye said of Lovullo’s work during the wild-card round after beating the Milwaukee Brewers. “We won the games and he pushed the right buttons.”

Despite losing 110 games in 2021, the Diamondbacks opted to stick with Lovullo as Hazen acknowledged the roster issues.

“When you lose 110 games, it’s quite difficult for a manager to have that much impact,” Hazen said in October. ‘That’s a scheduling problem. That’s me. It’s kind of hard to fire someone when you feel like you haven’t done your job.”

‘Isn’t it great to have long-term contracts? Everyone wants that,” Lovullo said in June. ‘Do I deserve that? Don’t know. Don’t know. I feel like I have to prove myself to people every day. That’s how I was raised. You respect what they give you, and if at the end of the day they want you back, you respect that too.”