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Diamondbacks announce hiring of Chip Hale as new manager

Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

After a long search and interview process, the Arizona Diamondbacks have settled on a new skipper. 

Arizona named Chip Hale its new manager on Monday, plucking the 49-year-old away from the Oakland Athletics with a reported two-year deal. He will become the seventh manager in club history. 

Hale, who has previous managing experience in the minor leagues with the Diamondbacks organization, served as the Athletics' bench coach for the last three seasons. Prior to that, Hale was a third base and infield coach for the New York Mets. 

A former 17th-round pick in the 1987 draft, Hale will finally get his first crack at a major league managerial job after reportedly finishing runner-up multiple times for open vacancies in recent years.

The Diamondbacks interviewed nine candidates after firing former manager Kirk Gibson in September before settling on Hale, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic

Hale's hiring comes a few weeks after chief baseball officer Tony La Russa named former player and agent Dave Stewart Arizona's vice president and general manager. La Russa has been busy in his attempt to rebuild the Diamondbacks since firing Kevin Towers from the general manager position last month. La Russa also hired De Jon Watson - who was previously with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization - as the club's senior vice president of baseball operations. 

Hale, who has strong ties to the state of Arizona, was a career .277/.346/.363 major league hitter over parts of seven seasons with the Minnesota Twins and the Dodgers. 

The Diamondbacks will introduce Hale in a press conference later Monday. 

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