Mike Hazen

Michael Shawn Hazen

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• School Princeton University
• High School Abington (MA) High School

• Born January 7, 1976 in Weymouth, MA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Mike Hazen attended Princeton University then was a 31st round choice in the 1998 amateur draft, by the San Diego Padres. He played that season with the Idaho Falls Braves of the Pioneer League, hitting a solid .307/.439/.480 in 61 games. In 1999, playing for the Fort Wayne Wizards of the Midwest League, he fell to .203/.328/.279 in 72 games as he was slowed down by a shoulder injury that ended his playing career.

He began his front office career in the Cleveland Indians organization in 2001, serving as an advance scout and then as director of pro scouting and assistant director of player development. At the time, he worked under John Farrell. In 2006, he joined the Boston Red Sox organization as director of player development. he rose to the position of assistant General Manager in 2012, then in 2015 he took over as GM when Ben Cherington left the organization and after an interim by Dave Dombrowski. By that time, Farrell was the manager of the team. While he had the title of General Manager, it was clear that the man running the show was his boss Dombrowski and not him.

A year later, on October 16, 2016, he was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks to be the team's Executive Vice-President and General manager, reporting directly to team President Derrick Hall. This time, he would be in a position to make decisions, which explains why he agreed to leave a successful operation in Boston. One of his first moves was to hire former Boston bench coach and interim manager Torey Lovullo to be the D-Backs' new skipper. On June 11, 2021, it was announced that Hazen would be taking a physical leave of absence to be with his wife and two sons as his wife, Nicole, was battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. Assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye assumed the day-to-day duties, but Hazen was still involved and had the final say in baseball matters [1]. Nicole passed away from the disease on August 4, 2022, at the age of 45, leaving Hazen and his four sons, the oldest of which was 16 at the time, in mourning.

Preceded by Dave Dombrowski

Boston Red Sox General Manager 2015-2016

Succeeded by tba

Preceded by Dave Stewart

Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager 2016-

Succeeded by current

Further Reading

• Jack Baer: "Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen takes leave of absence as wife battles brain cancer", Yahoo!Sports, June 11, 2021. [2]
• Anthony Castrovince: "Hazens' love story inseparable from D-backs' postseason saga", mlb.com, October 29, 2023. [3]
• Anthony Castrovince: "D-backs GM and his front office share a bond beyond baseball", mlb.com, April 4, 2024. [4]
• Steve Gilbert: "D-backs name former Boston exec Hazen GM", mlb.com, October 17, 2016. [5]
• Steve Gilbert: "D-backs' Hazen takes leave to be with family", mlb.com, June 11, 2021. [6]