Stewart named Diamondbacks GM

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Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – The Arizona Diamondbacks have made former major league pitcher Dave Stewart their new general manager, with the team to formally introduce the four-time 20-game winner during a press conference scheduled for Friday.

In addition to Stewart, who will take over for the recently fired Kevin Towers, the Diamondbacks have hired Los Angeles Dodgers executive De Jon Watson as the organization’s senior vice president of baseball operations.

Both men will report directly to Diamondbacks CEO Tony La Russa, who managed Stewart for seven seasons with the Oakland Athletics from 1986-92. Stewart put together four consecutive campaigns of 20 or more victories (1987-90) during that period, finishing in the top five in voting for the American League’s Cy Young Award in each of those years.

After retiring as a player after the 1995 season, Stewart worked in the front offices of the A’s, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays and also served as a pitching coach for the Padres, Blue Jays and Milwaukee. The 57-year-old has been operating his own sports agency, Sports Management Partners, since 2002.

“I’ve known Stew for nearly three decades and his diverse background includes championships on the field as both a player and coach, in the front office and in contract negotiation as a player representative,” said La Russa in a statement.

Stewart, a member of three World Series champion teams during his 16-year playing career, will become the fourth GM in Diamondbacks’ history and inherits a team that currently owns the worst record in baseball at 63-96. That lack of success led to Towers’ dismissal on Sept. 5.

Ironically, Stewart was a special assistant to Towers with the Padres in 1997.

“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,” said Stewart. “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.”

Watson has spent the past eight years in the Dodgers organization, most recently as the club’s vice president of player development. The 48-year-old has overseen several homegrown products emerge as All-Stars during his tenure, including reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and sluggers Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig.

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