D-backs give contract extension to GM Hazen

The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to give executive vice president and general manager Mike Hazen a contract extension, the team announced on Friday.

The team did not announced terms of the deal, but Hazen was previously signed through 2021 on the contract he signed in October 2016 to replace Dave Stewart. The extension will take his contract beyond 2021.

"I'm extremely, extremely happy for our (baseball operations) group, and very appreciative," Hazen said on the team's website. "What (managing general partner Ken Kendrick) and (CEO and team president Derrick Hall) did for us, I couldn't be happier or more appreciative. What we're trying to build here -- what I feel like we've started to build here -- is extremely important to all of us who work here. We want to see this through. We want to continue on this season, and seasons beyond, at building a sustainable winner and a World Series champion here."

Hazen, 43, reportedly was among the names connected to a possible position with the Boston Red Sox, who need a replacement for fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. But negotiations with the Diamondbacks have been taking place for around two weeks, Hazen said.

Before he became Arizona's general manager, Hazen was a member of the Red Sox front office for 11 years. He was born and raised in the Boston area.

Asked earlier this week about the possibility of returning to Boston, where he was second in command to Dombrowski, Hazen said, "My focus is 100 percent on the Arizona Diamondbacks," Hazen said, "and that's where it's going to remain."

Under Hazen's direction, the Diamondbacks earned a wild-card berth in 2017. Arizona is in contention for a wild-card spot again in 2019, starting Friday night's action four games out of the second slot.

"Mike and his staff have done a masterful job, and they have short and long-term plans here that are working towards building a sustainable winner," Hall said on the team's website. "He is one of the brightest and most innovative baseball minds in the game, and I am thrilled that he has chosen to remain a D-back regardless of outside opportunities."

--Field Level Media