The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the midst of reaching the playoffs 12 years in a row, with nine of those coming under manager Dave Roberts, who has additionally guided the team to two World Series titles in four appearances.
The Dodgers’ success last season came despite the roster being decimated by injuries for most of the year. They nevertheless won the National League West and finished with the best record in baseball.
In some sense it was validation to the Dodgers taking an approach that prioritizes the long-term health of players, even if it comes at the expense of winning games in the short term. Some strategies may include removing a starting pitcher due to a high pitch count and avoiding using relievers who have thrown on consecutive days.
Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior believes Roberts and other managers around the league have to balance the cost of winning games on a given day versus a week down the line and so on, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“That’s always the tug-of-war and beauty of our game,” Prior said. “It’s 162(-game season). It’s about winning today but not at the cost of winning games the next 10 days – versus football where you’re playing today and that’s all that matters.
“That’s the hard part that I think goes unnoticed with managers, all 30 of them. Do you push the envelope to win today if it comes at the cost of the next two or three days? Yeah, that win is important. But losing two or three in a row is not helpful if you’ve put yourself at a disadvantage. That’s the tough decisions of trying to manage your workload with your bullpen and even with your starters.”
MLB teams have some luxury of being cautious with their players due to the long 162-game season. Such a strategy would be difficult to pull off in other sports like football, which has a shorter schedule and thus more hinges on each game.
Roberts has been criticized for some of his in-game decisions, but that comes with the territory of being a big league manager and he has remained steadfast in the approach.
Dave Roberts signs record contract extension
With the 2025 season being the last on his deal, Roberts signed a four-year contract extension before the Dodgers left for the Tokyo Series.
Roberts’ contract set an MLB record for highest average annual value ($8.1 million) among managers, but it’s total value of $32.4 million still is behind Craig Counsell’s $40 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.
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