Arizona Diamondbacks to hire Torey Lovullo as new manager

 The Arizona Diamondbacks are moving forward with renewed hope looking toward 2017, and Torey Lovullo will be taking over as manager.

With the signing of Zack Greinke to a big contract and the trade that brought in Shelby Miller, the Arizona Diamondbacks effectively went all-in last offseason. But a 69-93 record this past season, due in part to Miller’s notable struggles and Greinke being limited to 26 starts (158.2 innings) and not pitching very well (4.37 ERA, 1.27 WHIP), led to manager Chip Hale and general manager Dave Stewart being fired after the season.

After rumors of him being one of the front runners for the job, Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo is set to be named Arizona’s new manager.

Lovullo served as Boston’s bench coach for the past four seasons, with a 49-game stint as manager late in the 2015 season when John Farrell underwent treatment for lymphoma. Beyond that Lovullo was previously a minor league manager in the Indians and Red Sox organizations for 10 seasons, and he was a finalist for the Minnesota Twins job two years ago before Paul Molitor was hired.

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Former Red Sox general manager Mike Hazen now occupies the same post with the Diamondbacks, so the tie to Lovullo becoming the new manager emerged quickly and has now come to fruition. Arizona’s Triple-A manager, Phil Nevin, was reported to be the other top candidate for the job and he is now expected to become the new third-base coach for the San Francisco Giants.