Snake Bytes, 11/8: X marks the spot

Team news

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks introduce Torey Lovullo as manager - Lovullo, who received a three-year deal, got the nod over Phil Nevin, the other finalist from the five candidates who were interviewed. "It was a very close call," Hazen said. "Ultimately, Torey was the right man for this job right now, but I think I can feel confident in saying that Phil Nevin is going to be a manager at some point in the big leagues, given what we experienced." Nevin, who spent the past three seasons as the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A manager, was announced as the San Francisco Giants’ new third-base coach on Monday morning.

[dbacks.com] D-backs name Torey Lovullo manager - Francona's influence, along with that of his mom, Lovullo thinks, is why he is able to communicate with players so well. "Maybe it was my mom's ability to relate to me on a feeling level," Lovullo said. "I can't exactly understand, but that might be the start of it. I can relate that to baseball when Terry Francona would come up and ask me what I was feeling, what I was thinking throughout the course of that play. He would just give me the chance to expose myself a little bit on a depth level. He made me feel comfortable and because of that, I knew that I was going to be able to go out and perform"

[AP] New manager says D-backs have 'nucleus of great players' - "Coming from the organization that I came from, I learned a lot of special things from some really talented people. Certainly my connection with Mike was something I never wanted to lose." The moment Hazen was hired, Lovullo became the odds-on favorite to get the manager's job. But Hazen insisted their relationship "was not the overriding factor" in the hiring. "This was a process," Hazen said, "a strong process, where we had a lot of strong candidates with different backgrounds, different levels of coaching experience, managerial experience. But ultimately Torey was the one who came out on top."

[Arizona Sports] New manager Torey Lovullo sees ‘special talent’ on Arizona Diamondbacks - "There’s a lot of special talent, a lot of really key ingredients here to help us move forward. It’s a special group of guys," he said. Lovullo didn’t name names. However, he did name the qualities he wants in a baseball player: smart, tough and fearless. "We have those guys here. We have a number of those guys here. There’s a great nucleus of players here," he said. "The way I look at it, it might be aiming a little high, I feel like things are looking very positive to start."

[AZ Central] Bickley: New manager Lovullo checks the right boxes - They’ve embraced dictatorship and anarchy. They hired and fired a candidate within four days after failing to do a background check. They employed one of the game’s greatest field generals to do everything but manage. This time, it looks like they found the right guy. He has experience but has never really proven himself, yet to run his own major-league team on a full-time basis. He has the pedigree that comes from a winning operation. He is said to be an impactful force in the clubhouse, something the Diamondbacks sorely need.

[dbacks.com] D-backs look ahead to free agency - While recently hired general manager Mike Hazen has been tightlipped about his offseason plans for the D-backs, one thing is probably certain -- the team will commit less money this offseason than last. One word that Hazen has used a lot since taking over is "sustainability," which would seem to indicate that, while the D-backs could use free agency to plug certain holes, they will focus most of their attention on building a strong farm system.

[Inside the 'Zona] Terry Lovullo Hired; D-backs Lose Nevin, Campos, Claim Hazelbaker - The previous regime had plenty of players and coaches they appeared to favor in spite of the results, but that trend seems to finally have come to a close... Mike Hazen is clearly running the show and he’s pushed his chips in, believing in his process, and ownership seems happy to oblige. Considering ownership has come under fire in the past for forcing player signings, nixing trades, and muddying the waters surrounding Chip Hale, letting the GM actually perform the duties of a GM unencumbered by ownership is a pleasant sign.

And, elsewhere...

The finalists for the BBWAA awards were announced, with the winners being revealed next week. No D-backs were harmed in the making of this list:

• Monday, November 14, 4:00 p.m. AZT
  AL Rookie of the Year: Michael Fulmer, Tyler Naquin, Gary Sanchez
  NL Rookie of the Year: Kenta Maeda, Corey Seager, Trea Turner
• Tuesday, November 15, 4:00 p.m. AZT
  AL Manager of the Year: Jeff Banister, Terry Francona, Buck Showalter
  NL Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Joe Maddon, Dave Roberts
• Wednesday, November 16, 4:00 p.m. AZT
  AL Cy Young Award: Corey Kluber, Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander
  NL Cy Young Award: Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Max Scherzer
• Thursday, November 17, 4:00 p.m. AZT
  AL Most Valuable Player: Jose Altuve, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout
  NL Most Valuable Player: Kris Bryant, Daniel Murphy, Corey Seager

[Yahoo!] South Korean baseball embroiled in match-fixing scandal - A scandal has hit South Korean Baseball, and it’s a bad one. It’s match-fixing, where the result of a game is predetermined to benefit a certain group of gamblers. This particular scandal is huge, with South Korean police accusing 21 people of some level of involvement. Seven are current and former players. The police are asserting that in 2014, the two pitchers received money from brokers in exchange for purposely issuing walks in specific innings.

[Purple Row] Colorado Rockies introduce Bud Black as manager - The Colorado Rockies introduced Bud Black as the seventh manager in club history at a press conference Monday. “I’m very honored to be the Rockies manager,” Black said. “I’m looking forward to it with a great deal of excitement, this city in a lot of ways is special to me.” Black comes to Colorado after a 14-year big league career on the mound and nine years managing the San Diego Padres, a tenure that saw him win the NL Manager of the Year award in 2010 and compile a 649-713 overall record.

[ESPN] 'Million Dollar Arm' pitcher Rinku Singh makes an impact from India to Pittsburgh Pirates and beyond - In 2007, sports agent J.B. Bernstein teamed up with investors Will Chang and Ash Vasudevan to launch the "Million Dollar Arm" reality television competition in India. Both Singh, who won the competition, and runner-up Dinesh Patel were javelin throwers and Olympic hopefuls from a sports academy in the city of Lucknow. It was a tale seemingly made for Hollywood, and Disney turned it into a movie with the international release of "Million Dollar Arm" in 2014. The film concludes with Singh and Patel signing their pro contracts. But the story didn't end there.