Arizona Diamondbacks extend the contract of manager Chip Hale through 2017

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The Arizona Diamondacks management on Thursday have extended the contract of their manager Walter "Chip" Hale through the end of the 2017 baseball season. Hale had signed a two year contract to work as a coach under the management of Kirk Gibson before the start of the 2014 baseball season. Hale succeeded Kirk Gibson as the manager of the Diamondbacks on October 13, 2014. In his first full season as manager of the Diamondbacks the team ended the 2015 baseball season in third place in the National League West Division with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses. Had the Diamondbacks not extended the contract of Hale to manage the team past the 2016 baseball season, Hale would have been a lame duck manager which would have given the team some headaches during the 2016 baseball season whether Hale was going to manage the team in 2017 or not. Hale was a former infielder for the Minnesota Twins from 1989-1990, 1993-1996 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997. Hale has been a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2007-2009, the New York Mets from from 2010-2011, the Oakland Athletics from 2012-2014 and the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2015-present. The Diamondbacks management feels that Hale is the type of manager to get them into playoff contention for the next two years of his current contract since the Diamondbacks have signed former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke and former Atlanta Braves pitcher Shelby Miller to their starting pitching staff in the 2016 baseball season.