Dave Dombrowski on possibility of Torey Lovullo becoming Diamondbacks manager: ‘We would not stand in his way’

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With Mike Hazen departing to become general manager of the Diamondbacks, the natural followup is if he’ll take Torey Lovullo with him as manager.

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, speaking on a conference call Monday, made it clear he won’t deny him the chance.

“I’ll be surprised, I would say, if they don’t ask for permission to talk to Torey,” Dombrowski said. “I know how highly we think of him and how highly Mike thinks of him. But I can’t speak for that. That would have to be something that Mike would answer. Of course, we would not stand in Torey’s way, as we discussed last week. In my opinion, he’s ready to be a Major League manager. Would he end up being their top selection? I can’t answer that. We would not stand in his way.”

Lovullo and Hazen share a history that dates back to their time together in the Indians organization more than a decade ago. The Red Sox bench coach is considered a hot managerial property this offseason, and joining Hazen in Arizona makes sense. The D’backs have an opening because they fired manager Chip Hale after a 69-win season.

As for the Red Sox GM search, Dombrowski said he’s going to start with internal candidates before potentially broadening the search. Whomever he hires will essentially be an assistant GM, since Dombrowski calls all the shots in baseball operations.