D-Backs extend GM Mike Hazen

The Arizona Diamondbacks have reached an agreement on a contract extension with executive vice-president and general manager Mike Hazen, according to Nick Piecoro of AZCentral.

The exact length and financial terms of the extension weren't announced. Hazen was already under contract with the D-Backs through the end of next season, according to Cot's Contracts.

Speculation about Hazen's future with the D-Backs had grown after the Boston Red Sox fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Monday. Hazen, a Boston-area native who spent a decade in the Red Sox organization and served as the team's GM, was seen as a potential leading candidate to replace Dombrowski.

But Hazen said his extension talks with Arizona had begun before Dombrowski was fired, according to Zach Buchanan of The Athletic.

Additionally, the Red Sox never asked the D-Backs for permission to speak to Hazen, a source told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

The 43-year-old Hazen, a graduate of Princeton University, cut his teeth in the Cleveland Indians' front office before joining the Red Sox in 2006. He was hired as the D-Backs' seventh GM in October 2016.

Hazen turned the 93-loss D-Backs squad from 2016 into a 93-win playoff team that reached the NLDS during his first season in the desert. The club missed the playoffs in 2018, but is thought to have a bright future; Hazen's been lauded for building an excellent farm system that MLB.com ranked as the fifth-best in baseball last month.

The D-Backs entered play Friday sitting four games out of a playoff spot with a 75-72 record.