Torey Lovullo reportedly returning as Diamondbacks manager on two-year deal

What happened

Torey Lovullo is reportedly staying in Arizona. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks will retain Lovullo as manager on a new two-year deal — this after Lovullo spent the entire 2026 season in the final year of his previous contract, his future publicly unresolved right up to the final out of the year.

Per Piecoro's report, as relayed by MLB Trade Rumors' Darragh McDonald, the new arrangement lines Lovullo up with general manager Mike Hazen, whose most recent contract runs through 2028 and includes a club option for 2029. The front office and the dugout, at least on paper, are now pointed in the same direction.

Why it matters

The lame-duck dynamic that defined Lovullo's 2026 season was, by any measure, an unusual way to run a baseball operation. It is genuinely rare for a manager to navigate a playoff chase without any public clarity about whether he would be back, and Arizona did exactly that — Lovullo steering the club through a contention race, clubhouse turbulence, and a series of roster crises with his own status unresolved. That the organization has now reportedly committed two more years suggests it made its evaluation and landed where it started.

Per Piecoro's report, 2027 will be Lovullo's 11th season managing the Diamondbacks. That kind of tenure is its own argument. He arrived in Arizona a decade ago, won 93 games and reached the postseason in his first campaign, survived a 110-loss season in 2021, guided the club to a World Series appearance in 2023 — falling to the Rangers in five games — and has now reportedly been handed another runway despite back-to-back seasons that ended without a playoff berth.

The retention also matters because of what it signals about organizational continuity heading into an offseason that already has moving parts. The Diamondbacks finished 2026 with questions at multiple roster spots, and having a manager whose status was uncertain only added to the noise. Per Piecoro's report, that particular question is now answered.

The numbers

Arizona finished 2026 at 86-76 (.531), good for third in the NL West and 14 games back in the division race. The club ranked fourth in the Wild Card standings, 2.0 games relative to the cut line, and was eliminated from both the division and Wild Card races. The season ended on a two-game losing streak.

That 86-win total sits in an instructive place in Lovullo's decade-long record. The club won 93 in his first year, hovered around .500 for several seasons, lost 110 in 2021, won 84 in the 2023 World Series run, climbed to 89 in 2024, dipped to 80-82 in 2025, and came back to 86 this year. The arc is not a straight line in either direction, which is perhaps the most honest summary of what the Diamondbacks have been under this management team.

Where the club stands

The Diamondbacks closed the 2026 regular season at 86-76, third in the NL West, eliminated from postseason contention. The final two games were losses. The offseason now begins in earnest, with the managerial question reportedly resolved and a roster that will require attention on multiple fronts.

How did Lovullo's own status look at the end of the season?

Uncertain, by his own account. After the final game of the 2026 season, Lovullo spoke to the media — video relayed by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports — and offered a candid read of his own situation. "I don't know where it's at," he said, before acknowledging that both he and the organization had thinking to do and that the path forward was unclear to him. That was the public posture as recently as the season's final day. Per Piecoro's report, the answer has since come into focus.

The backdrop to those comments included a season that was operationally complicated well beyond the standings. Ketel Marte reportedly did not appear for a game at Fenway in August and was initially placed on the restricted list before being moved to the injured list with a knee injury. Reports of clubhouse discord tied to Marte had also surfaced during the 2025 season, per McDonald's writeup. And in the final days of the 2026 regular season, Corbin Burnes was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation — retroactive to September 22, per earlier reporting — while Gabriel Moreno, the NL batting leader, was scratched from the season finale with a tender left hamstring. Managing through that stretch, without a contract, is the kind of thing that either earns you a new deal or ends your tenure. Per Piecoro, it earned Lovullo a new deal.

Per McDonald's report, players on the Arizona roster expressed their fondness for Lovullo when speaking with SI — a data point the organization presumably weighed alongside the win totals.

What we don't know yet

The report does not specify the financial terms of the two-year deal, only its length. It is also not yet clear how the club will address the roster questions that accumulated over the final weeks of the season. Burnes' shoulder situation — described in earlier reporting as fatigue not expected to require surgery, with a second opinion pending — remains an open item heading into the offseason. Moreno's hamstring and his availability timeline have not been formally addressed. And Jesús Sánchez, outrighted to Triple-A Reno after clearing waivers, is expected to elect free agency per prior reporting, leaving a roster spot in flux.

Earlier reporting also noted that Michael Soroka and the Diamondbacks have mutual interest in a reunion deal in free agency following his 2026 season, adding another thread to an offseason that is just getting started.

What to watch

The two-year commitment to Lovullo sets the table for what figures to be a consequential Arizona offseason. The alignment between Lovullo and Hazen through at least 2028 means the organization's core decision-makers are in place; what they build around them is the next question. Burnes' shoulder, Moreno's health, the free-agent market, and the Soroka reunion interest are all threads worth tracking as the calendar turns. The managerial chair, at least, is no longer one of them.