The Los Angeles Dodgers fell short of their ultimate goal of winning the World Series despite a historic 111-win regular season and manager Dave Roberts making a championship guarantee.
After a heartbreaking loss in the National League Division Series to the San Diego Padres, many Dodgers fans wanted Roberts to be fired, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman believes criticism of the skipper is unfair.
Although Friedman defended the Dodgers manager, he also acknowledged the fans who want significant changes to be made in the organization following another disappointing postseason. “The passion that they have is shared,” Friedman said.
“The expectations that they have, are shared. The disappointment that we all feel, is shared. I think it’s just the way I personally see the world, is for everyone you work with that pours themself into this, also feel that same way. It’s us collectively trying to learn what we can from what has happened and putting ourselves in the best position to avoid it going forward.
“I feel like the vast majority of the time the best team has always won the World Series and this happened to be an example of not, then I think it’s easier to point fingers and isolate why. Some of it comes down to what happens in the crazy tournament that is the playoffs of baseball. It cuts both ways.
“It’s exhilarating and awesome when it works out, and it’s crushing when it doesn’t. I just don’t see the world in terms of pointing the finger and firing someone for those reasons.
“Now, I think as a group, if we’re not constantly trying to get better, even if we won it all this year, I think the mindset of always trying to improve what we do is shared among everyone we work with. Those are people I very much believe in figuring this out with together.”
Friedman also confirmed Roberts will return for an eighth season as manager for the 2023 season. Roberts signed a three-year contract extension prior to the 2022 season.
Dave Roberts doesn’t regret guaranteeing Dodgers would win World Series
Roberts has been on the unfortunate end of multiple postseason letdowns and his guarantee has now become fodder, but before the playoffs began, Friedman enjoyed Roberts’ confidence and several players embraced the expectations that came with it.
But following the loss to the Padres, Roberts said the World Series guarantee wasn’t on his list of regrets.
The skipper did include one caveat in his prediction, that it would take the starting pitching remaining healthy to have it come to fruition, but he didn’t alter his stance after the rotation absorbed several injuries throughout the year.
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