Alden Gonzalez
Dave Roberts and the Los Angeles Dodgers were confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
Roberts and the Dodgers have been seriously discussing their new contract since early February. Despite being far apart with a few stretches along the way, both are expected to be locked in a new contract before the Dodgers leave for Japan.
Currently, the largest manager contract belongs to Craig Counsel. Craig Counsel signed a five-year, $40 million contract when he left Milwaukee Brewers for the Chicago Cubs in November 2023. Roberts’ New Deal is not both a potential contract, but not a total amount, but counsels widely predict the top counsel, either in total value or average annual value.
Roberts, 52, is heading into his 10th season with the Dodgers. This is also the final season of his contract. His contract comes just after his second World Series Championship in five years.
Editor’s Pick
Meanwhile, Roberts also led the Dodgers to four National League pennants, eight division titles and a .627 regular season win percentage. This is the best ever for anyone who managed at least 250 games.
The New York Post was the first to report news about the Roberts extension.
Roberts, a stolen base Boston cult hero who helped to cause an unprecedented comeback in the 2004 American League Championship Series, carved out a decade-long career as a major league outfielder before spending five years on the San Diego Padres coaching staff. The Dodgers hired Roberts to replace Don Mattinting in November 2015, becoming the franchise’s first minority manager.
Since then, they have won 907 regular season and postseason games. Only the Houston Astros (862) and the New York Yankees (807) have over 800.
From 2017 to 2023, the Dodgers won at least 100 regular season games in five of their six full seasons. They ended their 60 Games 2020 campaign with a win rate of .717. The only year the Dodgers haven’t won the NL West under Roberts, they finished in 2021 with 106 wins. Still, Roberts only has one Manager of the Year award in his name. It’s a sign of the harsh reality of his work.
For years, the Dodgers’ victory has been widely recognized by ownership groups with deep pockets and one of the industry’s most striking baseball operations divisions. Meanwhile, Roberts was left to hold him accountable for his continued postseason disappointment. That was less true than in 2019. The 106-win Dodger team lost to the Washington Nationals in the NL Division Series after Roberts was a little too long in a decisive Game 5.
However, Roberts continued to manage the Dodgers throughout the unorthodox 2020 postseason, which was staged in the bubble and did not include holidays within the series, at least to buy more time. Then there was another October disappointment. The Dodgers lasted long by the NLCS Atlanta Braves in 2021, then lost to the NLDS inferior rivals in 2022 and 2023, first by the Padres and then the Arizona Diamondbacks.
A similar fate appeared to be waiting for the Dodgers in 2024. They were a game away from the NLDS’ Padres elimination and had to win in San Diego to maintain the season. Shortly after the first round goodbye, the third straight early exit would probably cost Roberts’ work. However, he managed through the bullpen game in Game 4 and went on to ride the more dominant pitching in Game 5. The Dodgers then passed the New York Mets and Yankees to secure their first full season championship since 1988.
The 2024 season ultimately highlighted Roberts’ best features. His even-numbered keel attitude helped the team navigate the betting scandal surrounding Ipei Mizuhara’s interpreter at the beginning of the year. His trademark agility kept his team’s spirit high over the summer when he injured star players such as Mookie Betts, Max Muncie, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow. And in the fall, Roberts seemed to be pushing all the right buttons, dealing with a very compromised starting rotation.
He sailed four times in the bullpen game. Most notably, they saved the season against the Padres and won a pennant against the Mets. And in Game 5 of the World Series, when starting pitcher Jack Flaherty didn’t pitch after two innings, Roberts was on a troubling group of relief pitchers, but the Dodgers made a lively comeback and left another starter, Walker Buhler, to score the final three outs.
The victory brought Roberts to the sole manager of the Dodgers, alongside Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda, to win multiple rings. It probably secured his place in his Hall of Fame. But what he was most proud of was the reciprocity of the trust he had always extended to players.
“That’s it,” Roberts told ESPN shortly after securing the championship. “I believe in them, and this is the first team I really felt like trust has done both ways.
