The Arizona Diamondbacks made several moves on Friday as they are on the verge of finishing with the worst record in the 2014 MLB season.
The Diamondbacks, who currently hold a measly 62-96 record, hired Dave Stewart as the club's new general manager, and Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa believes that the 48-year-old will help Arizona recover from their disappointing performance next season.
"I've known Stew for nearly three decades and his diverse background includes championships on the field both as a player and coach, in the front office and in contract negotiations as a player representative," La Russa said of Stewart via ESPN.
Stewart, who will be the only active GM to play and coach in the major league, is looking forward to the challenge of rebuilding the Diamondbacks into a title contender, calling his appointment as a "perfect challenge" and expressing excitement to work alongside new senior vice president De Jon Watson.
"I've been fortunate enough to enjoy success as a player and coach and really enjoyed my time representing players, but this is the perfect challenge for me," Stewart said. "To try and put together the pieces of a championship team is something I can't wait to begin and I could not be more excited about doing it with De Jon and alongside a Hall of Famer who I respect greatly in Tony."
Stewart was introduced on Friday, which was immediately followed by an announcement wherein the Diamondbacks revealed that Kirk Gibson will not return as manager next season.
La Russa said that he felt that he had to make the move because they need to have a fresh start in the hope of turning the tables around starting this offseason.
"We just decided that being fresh, starting fresh with not just the upstairs leadership team but downstairs, is more consistent with what we are doing as an organization," La Russa said.
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