Fans may have thought that negotiations between the Dodgers front office and manager Dave Roberts have been temporarily shelved, but today the team announced that it has agreed to a four-year contracts with their manager.
“Keeping Doc as our leader on the field was a top priority this off-season and now that we’ve accomplished that we are excited to collectively shift all of our focus to doing all we can to bring a World Championship to our passionate fans,” stated Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations.
The 46-year-old Roberts began his major league managing career with the Dodgers in 2016 and in that time has lead the team to three straight division titles and back-to-back World Series appearances in 2017-18. He is the first Dodgers manager to lead his team to the postseason in each of his first three years at the helm.
“When I was hired to lead the team three years ago, I said at the time that managing the Dodgers is truly the opportunity of a lifetime and I feel the exact same way today”, Roberts said. “We’ve worked hard to develop a team and culture that will put us in a position to win the World Series every season, but we still have yet to reach our ultimate goal and that’s what drives me each day.”
The Dodgers front office had had discussions with Roberts about a new contract, but picked up his option for the 2019 season while talks continued. Roberts will now be with the club as manager through the 2022 season. Details of the contract have not yet been released.
There are quite a few fans who place a lot of the blame of the past few failed World Series runs directly at the feet of Roberts. While many of his in game decisions are definitely open for debate, there are not many people who could handle the particular stressors of being manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The front office is involved in a lot of the lineup and pitching decisions, as well as with analytics and decisions of platooning and the like. Roberts is left to calm the seas left by the wake of the front office, and juggle egos and any other issues that may arise. He does it all with grace and an innate happiness and love of the game that radiates from him.
One of the biggest takeaways is how his players feel about him. All-Star closer Kenley Jansen recently had a 5-1/2 hour heart surgery procedure, and he was effusive in his praise for his manager.
“When I got up, the only person I see (sic) in the room was Dave Roberts. Like, I hear his voice, and I think, that’s my favorite man next to me…… Doc just drove all the way from San Diego to be with me when I have my surgery. That was pretty awesome.”
(Lauren Douglas provided some information furnished in this report)
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Stability in the dugout. I know a lot of people who won’t be happy about this but I’m good with it. The players seem to love him.
What’s next?
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Dave has strong points and weak ones as most managers do. Unlike Mattingly he is a players manager. He keeps the line of communication open and explains to his guys why or why not they are playing a certain day. He did a good job keeping Kemp happy, and he manages ego’s very well. On the other hand, he has a tendency to pull starters too early, or one pitch too late, relies on matchups way too much and is the FO’s perfect manager because he buys into and uses their analytics. I also think he uses the FO’s input on who should be in the lineup. He tends to play the hot hand now and then, but he also has a tendency to totally forget about a player once in a while. Matt Kemp was the teams best hitter with runners in scoring position, yet he was used very sparingly in the playoffs and the World Series.
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And yet, with all those mistakes, we’ve been to the World Series twice in row.
I’m not crazy about the game I played and watched for decades changing in the ways it has, Out of what felt like necessity, I’ve worked to understand it. And frankly speaking, it appears Dave Roberts is pretty good at it. As for playing the players the FO prefers, what else is he supposed to do? The data presented is about hundreds of algorithms telling the manager what the odds are. If you are given information by your boss that playing Pederson over Kemp increases your odds of winning tonight, you play Pederson. If you don’t, you will have some splaining to do.
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I get it. But no matter what those stats and analytics are not going to be true every night. And his handling of pitchers sometimes is mind boggling. Winning is what counts, but they were good before he got here. I also dislike what baseball has become. This style of baseball is very boring. I am so sick of seeing guys striking out or hitting into double plays when a simple single could be the difference. If you can go back and look at some of the Dodger at bats in the World Series and in the playoff games they lost. That swinging for the downs crap sank their boat many a time. A little solid contact and they would have swept the Braves. A couple of singles where there were strikeouts and they might have at least taken the Sox to 6 games instead of rolling over like they did.
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Love Dave Roberts the person and love Dave Roberts the manager. Glad to have you back Doc!
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You enjoy mediocrity do you? Roberts is a nice guy and a great people person, but as an in game strategist, he is very middle of the road. He got out managed by Hinch last year and Cora, a rookie manager, took him to school this year.
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Jeff Passan has a story out saying that Magic and some other Dodger execs traveled to Vegas to meet with Harper. Apparently at least 10 other organizations have been or will be doing the same thing, but the good news is that we probably have a better chance of signing him than the A’s, O’s and Royals. I firmly believe that if we change the Hollywood sign to Harperwood that’ll do the trick. Welcome to L.A. Bryce!
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I read the article after seeing your post Jeff. It’s nice to see the team interest there, after Shaikens article about the salary I didn’t think we would even talk to Harper, but they wouldn’t send Magic if they weren’t considering spending for him, why waste Magic’s time? We all are reminded too often that baseball is a business, and I get that, I just want to believe if our team sees the right player, that they think will put them over the top, they will try to get them no matter the damn CBT. The article mentioned the Yankees interest, I don’t understand that one at all, unless they are going to play a rover, I don’t think they have room for him.
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I doubt Magic felt a trip to Vegas was a waste of time. If he had gone to Harpersville Alabama he probably would have felt different about it. Though I’m glad to see this happening, I still doubt we sign him.
I hear you Bear. I can’t help but wonder if some day we will see a return to some of the old ways. If a team starts winning with it we will. Won’t be us as long as Friedman is in charge.
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Oh I seriously doubt they will ever go back. Most teams are doing the same thing and those that have not so far seem to be changing their spots. Texas hired Woodward because he is forward thinking.
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You’re a pretty harsh critic calling two straight World Series appearances mediocrity! Roberts would look a lot brighter if he had a better bullpen to work with and Kenley hadn’t d blown 3-4 Series saves! Look no further than Kershaw and Jansen who lost the Houston series and Boston just a much better team than Dodgers. No way Dodgers get to World Series wo Roberts this year. He did a great job getting Dodgers through a tough start to last season!
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They got to the series because of the players, not brilliance on Roberts part. I saw numerous games during the season that he mismanaged strategically. And he made the same mistakes in this World Series he did last year. Yep, Kenley and Kershaw did not do their job, but his mishandling of pitchers is evident every year, and I am not the only one who saw it. He was bashed on social media and several Dodger blogs, and the media itself took him to task over his moves, namely removing Hill too early in the 2017 series and other dumb decisions. Boston was clearly the better team, you are so right there, but he mismanaged to Houston series and it cost them. As for being a harsh critic, well, lets just say 30 years of no titles has taken it’s toll. I put most of the blame on the FO when it is deserved. When they lose because the manager is a terrible strategist, I blame the manager.
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As a players manager, Roberts is a very good communicator and he is also a nice guy. I have no problem with him that way, but in no way do I consider him even on a par with Lasorda. Tommy was a motivator, he got players doing things they thought they could not do. Alston was a mammoth presence in the club house and most of the team really respected the guy, and he was damn good at strategy. Dave does a good job in keeping his players informed. He lets them know why they are not playing on a certain day against a certain pitcher, and he uses the analytics that the FO loves. He is a yes man.
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Just read a post by Dave Roberts on twitter…he said he would still use CK in a do or die game even though he had given up 5 runs. Ya know, I cannot remember Koufax ever giving up 5 runs in a do or die game. Darvish gave up 5 before the seats were warm in game 7 of the 17 series. Just me maybe, but 5 runs, with the way that offense was playing in the series seems pretty insurmountable to me. I have an idea. Next time they get to a game 7, if there is a next time, and with this leadership I doubt it, use a different pitcher every inning, that way they only need to get 3 outs apiece. Will confuse the hell out of the oppositions offense and the hitters will never know what is coming. It almost worked for the Brewers as they were changing pitchers more than they changes their clothes.
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A quote from Dave by someone else, or actually Dave Roberts’ Twitter?
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