The Diamondbacks and GM Mike Hazen have agreed to a new contract extension, according to . Hazen is now under contract through the 2028 season, and the DBacks hold a club option on his services for 2029. In addition to extending Hazen, Piecoro reports ( ) that a sistant GMs Amiel Sawdaye and Mike Fitzgerald also got new contracts. Club president/CEO Derrick Hall said that the DBacks had spoken with Hazen about a new deal, so todays news isnt particularly surprising. Hazens previous contract ran through 2024 with a club option for 2025, so technically, there wasnt any overt urgency for Arizona to work out an extension this quickly. However, given that the Red Sox also reportedly had some interest in speaking with Hazen (who formerly worked with Boston and hails from Ma sachusetts) about their own front office vacancy, that mightve also spurred Arizona to act sooner than later in locking Hazen up for the rest of the decade. Hazen took over Arizonas front office following the 2016 season, and immediately ended a string of three losing seasons by taking the Diamondbacks to a wild card berth in 2017. Two more winning (though non-playoff) seasons followed, as Hazen attempted the tricky task of retooling the DBacks roster and reducing payroll while also keeping the team competitive. The trade of to the Cardinals in December 2018 was the best example of how Hazen tried to better position the Diamondbacks for future, even if it meant making the call to part ways with a homegrown superstar. The difficulties of Hazens strategy manifested themselves with three straight losing seasons from 2020-22, with the nadir of a 110-lo s campaign in 2021. Still, Hazen resisted the urge to Darick Hall Jersey tear the roster down entirely, and to some extent doubled down by signing such notables as and to extensions rather than trading either player for younger talent. As it happened, Arizona was still able to add quite a bit of younger talent anyway in other transactions and through the draft, to the point that the Diamondbacks now have one of the higher-ranked minor league systems in baseball. This three-year period also brought infinitely more pain to Hazen off the field, as his wife Nicole was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2020 and pa sed away in August 2022. recently wrote about the Hazen familys strength and struggles during this time, and the GM took a temporarily physical leave of absence from the Diamondbacks in 2021. Upon Nicoles pa sing, Hazen considered leaving his job altogether, but his four sons unanimously encouraged their father to continue as general manager. The DBacks went 84-78 this season, getting back to both winning baseball and the postseason, earning the final NL wild card slot after a hotly-contested pennant race that came down to the regular seasons final days. Virtually the entirety of the Snakes roster was acquired under Hazens watch, ranging from homegrown draft picks (i.e. ), shrewd trade pickups ( , , ) and under-the-radar acquisitions (i.e. Kelly, ) that have paid big dividends. With Carroll the NL Rookie of the Year favorite, just beginning his MLB career, and top prospect in the pipeline, the Diamondbacks look in good shape to contend for years to come. The extensions for Sawdaye and Fitzgerald are also noteworthy, as the two a sistant GMs are well-regarded in their own right. Sawdaye has a long history with Hazen dating back to their time working in the Red Sox front office, and Sawdaye has been a candidate for the Giants and Angels most recent openings for president of baseball operations and general manager, respectively. Fitzgerald has been with Arizona since 2016 and was promoted to the AGM role after previously working as the teams director of analytics. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images Bryson Stott Jersey