PHOENIX — Add another item to the list of awesome moments for Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo over the past couple of months.
Make the playoffs and end the D-backs' six-year playoff drought: check.
Sweep Milwaukee in the National League Wild Card Series: check.
Sweep the Dodgers in the NL Division Series: check.
Beat the Phillies in the NL Championship series and advance to the D-backs first World Series in 22 years: check.
Now, add a contract extension to that list.
12Sports can confirm Lovullo and the D-backs have agreed to an extension to keep the longest-tenured manager in team history around through at least 2026.
MLB.com's Steve Gilbert was the first to report the news. The terms of the deal have not been announced.
This is Lovullo's second contract extension of the year. In June, Lovullo agreed to an extension through the 2024 season. Today's extension would add to that.
This extension had been expected after the surprise run to the World Series. General Manager Mike Hazen even hinted that it was coming last week during the team's end-of-the-season interviews.
“I'm not anticipating that the question of where he's going to be managing anytime soon is going to be something we're going to spend a whole lot of time on,” Hazen said.
Lovullo had been managing on one-year deals in 2022 and 2023 as Arizona continued to work through its rebuild after losing 110 games in 2021.
Diamondbacks principal owner and managing general partner Ken Kendrick spoke about the belief the team has shown in Lovullo and Hazen after the D-backs swept the Dodgers in this year's NLDS.
"We're family and in a family, there are down times and there are up times and you don't desert your family when things are going well," Kendrick said. "And we believed there was a core coming through the minor leagues. We believed in Mike and his group and ultimately we believed in Torey. And it was probably a surprise that he was retained when we lost over 100 games. But we believed he didn't have the players that he deserved to have and you don't blame the manager when you haven't given him the right talent. I think we now have the right talent and he's showing what he can do."
Next year will be Lovullo's eighth with the D-backs. He won NL Manager of the Year in 2017.
The Diamondbacks will be back in action for Spring Training at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale next February. Their first game will be on Feb. 23 against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.
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