Michael Norman Hazen (born January 7, 1976) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

executive and current

executive vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). A

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

graduate and former minor league

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, he previously served as the GM and senior vice president of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

and worked under

Ben Cherington Benjamin P. Cherington (born July 14, 1974) is an American baseball executive serving as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) since November 2019. He previously served as the vice-president of baseball oper ...

Early life

Hazen was born in

Weymouth, Massachusetts ("To Work Is to Conquer") , image_map = Norfolk County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Weymouth highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in Norfolk County in Massa ...

, and grew up in nearby Abington.''2015 Boston Red Sox media guide'', page 40 He played four years of varsity baseball for the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in ...

and was selected in the 31st round by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

in the

1998 Major League Baseball draft The 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1998. A total of 1445 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

. After

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.307 with 62 hits in the Rookie-level Pioneer League with the

Idaho Falls Chukars The Idaho Falls Chukars are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and play their home games at Melaleuca ...

in 1998, he was promoted to the Class A

Fort Wayne Wizards A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. He batted only .203 in 72 games played in 1999 and a chronic shoulder injury ended his active career. As a player, he threw left-handed, batted right-handed and was listed at tall and .

Career

Hazen joined the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

as an intern then became one of the club's advance scouts in 2001–02. Promoted to assistant director of professional scouting in 2003, he then spent two full seasons (2004–05) as Cleveland's assistant director of player development, working directly under John Farrell, who would serve as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the Red Sox from 2013–17. Hazen initially came to the Red Sox as director of player development in February 2006 (Farrell would follow as the team's pitching coach eight months later), and then was named vice president, player development and amateur scouting, in 2011. He was promoted to vice president and assistant general manager (under Cherington) in 2012, then named a senior vice president and assistant GM in early 2015. On September 23, 2015, Hazen was named general manager by the Red Sox' president of baseball operations,

Dave Dombrowski David Dombrowski (born July 27, 1956) is an American baseball executive who serves as the President of Baseball Operations for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski also previously served as the general manager of ...

. Although Dombrowski assumed final authority for baseball decisions, Hazen served as a top aide and had input in the club's decision-making. During his one full season in the post, Boston won the 2016 American League East Division championship, but fell in the ALDS to the eventual league champions, the Indians. On October 16, 2016, Hazen agreed to become the executive vice president and general manager of the

, to serve as the team's top baseball operations executive. On June 11, 2021, Hazen announced he would be taking a physical leave of absence to spend more time with his wife Nicole, who was battling brain cancer. Hazen stated that he didn’t feel he could devote the time required to lead the team’s trade deadline and draft preparation while attending to his family responsibilities. Hazen's wife Nicole succumbed to her cancer on August 4, 2022.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazen, Mike 1976 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks executives Boston Red Sox executives Cleveland Indians executives Cleveland Indians scouts Fort Wayne Wizards players Idaho Falls Braves players Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball general managers People from Abington, Massachusetts Princeton Tigers baseball players