Diamondbacks hire Torey Lovullo as manager

The Arizona Diamondbacks hired a new manager on Friday, reaching into the Red Sox organization once again to pluck Torey Lovullo away from Boston. He receives a three-year contract and will be formally introduced at a news conference on Monday at 10 a.m.

Lovullo was the favorite to get the job from the moment the Diamondbacks hired Mike Hazen as their general manager last month. The two worked together with the Boston Red Sox – Lovullo was the club’s bench coach the past four seasons – and before that were together with the Cleveland Indians.

hose who know him describe him as a strong communicator who finds ways to connect with his players. They also point to his resume, which includes experience as a major-league player, a minor-league manager and a big-league coach, not to mention the time he spent as the Red Sox interim manager late in the 2015 season, when he took over after John Farrell left the team to receive treatment for lymphoma.

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“I think the Diamondbacks are very lucky to have him as their manager,” said former Diamondbacks infielder Aaron Hill, who crossed paths with Lovullo during stints in Toronto and Boston.

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“I’ve had a few texts from (Diamondbacks) players already and I told them I couldn’t say enough good things about him. He’s a great guy, a great person and an intelligent baseball man. And he deserves to be a manager.”

An infielder for parts of eight seasons in the majors, Lovullo, 51, spent nine years as a minor-league manager before working the past six seasons as Farrell’s bench coach, first in Toronto, then in Boston.

“I think that’s what makes him special is he can connect with anybody,” said Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins, who was in Cleveland during the eight seasons Lovullo was a minor-league manager for the Indians. “Whether it’s a Venezuelan or a Japanese player, whether it’s a younger player or an older player, he’s going to be able to connect because he has empathy.

“And he’s always been around winning environments; I don’t think that’s luck. I’m not saying where he goes he will win, but I think he’s always been a significant contributor to winning environments.”

The Diamondbacks are believed to have narrowed their candidates down to Lovullo and Triple-A Reno manager Phil Nevin, who is not expected to return to the organization. Sources say Nevin will take a job with the San Francisco Giants on manager Bruce Bochy’s staff.

Nevin was bypassed twice by the Diamondbacks for the manager’s job; he also was said to be a finalist when Chip Hale was hired two years ago. If he does depart, the Diamondbacks could promote Double-A manager Robby Hammock to Triple-A and High-A manager J.R. House to Double-A.

Along with Assistant General Manager Amiel Sawdaye, the Diamondbacks’ three highest-ranking baseball officials have come directly from the Red Sox in the past three weeks.

Some in the game credit Lovullo for helping the Red Sox's young core develop during the 48 games he managed in place of Farrell last year.

“Torey’s awesome,” said reliever Brad Ziegler, who got to know Lovullo after he was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Red Sox in July. “Awesome guy, awesome coach, awesome communicator. He’s going to be phenomenal for that team, organization and clubhouse. Hazen, too. That team will turn around quickly. And that has nothing to do with the guys in those positions before. I just think those two new guys are going to be tremendous there.”

Hill said Boston players rave about Lovullo’s ability to connect on multiple levels, going beyond just baseball and surface-level interactions.

“The guys absolutely loved him,” Hill said. “There wasn’t one guy in the clubhouse that had anything bad to say about him. He got to know the player not just as a ballplayer but as a person. He genuinely knew how that person was doing that day. I think that’s important. If a player has that communication and trust in the manager, he’ll let him know, ‘Hey, you know, I’m not feeling great today.’ That could really make a difference over the course of the year.”

Lovullo's coaching and managerial career

• 2002 - Manager, Columbus Red Stixx (Single-A)
• 2003-04 - Manager, Kinston Indians (Single-A)
• 2005 - Manager, Akron Aeros (Double-A) 
• 2006-08 - Manager, Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A)                        
• 2009 - Manager, Columbus Clippers (Triple-A)               
• 2010 - Manager, Pawtucket Red Sox (Triple-A)
• 2011-12 - First Base Coach, Toronto Blue Jays                                    
• 2013-16 - Bench Coach, Boston Red Sox

Piecoro writes for the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network

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