Diamondbacks hire Dave Stewart as GM, De Jon Watson as a senior VP

Matt Kemp needs a new agent after Dave Stewart, his current (or previous) one, was hired as general manager and vice president of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Stewart will be bringing along De Jon Watson, the Dodgers’ vice president of player development, as his senior vice president of baseball operations.

Both will report to Tony La Russa, the team’s new chief baseball officer, completing a major front-office revamping for the last-place Diamondbacks.

If Dodgers fans thought ex-Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers could be an angry boy, they should know he could prove a mere buildup to Stewart. The Diamondbacks’ would-be rivalry with the Dodgers might just have been elevated a notch with Stewart, who has never shied away from sharing his opinion.

Stewart, 57, did get Kemp an eight-year, $160-million contract, so it’s not as if he left the Dodgers outfielder hurting. He’s been an agent for the last 10 years.

Watson, 48, is in his eighth season with the Dodgers and 29th in professional baseball. He originally interviewed for the GM position and had also interviewed for the position when it went to Towers in 2010. He also was a finalist in Baltimore in 2011.

A Santa Monica High School graduate, he already lives in Maricopa, Ariz., about 30 miles south of Phoenix.