Despite being one of the most injury-plagued teams in all of baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers are having another strong season under manager Dave Roberts.
He’s on track to lead the team to a ninth consecutive playoff appearance behind a 58-41 record, which is good for the second-best mark in the National League.
More importantly, the Dodgers hold a sizable seven-game lead over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West and top-five record overall.
Roberts’ job security does not appear to be in question, but Ken Rosenthal relayed during a recent appearance on “Foul Territory” that the Dodgers could look to make a change if they have another early playoff exit, and Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was a potential replacement:
“First of all, I’m putting Boston on this list. I’m not ruling out that the Red Sox are not going to employ Alex Cora next year. We can look at a number of teams that could have openings if things don’t go the way they want them to, and I’m talking about big teams. The Dodgers are one, the Yankees are another, and the Cardinals are a third, and there are more as well.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see what Alex Cora decides. He’s talked a lot about wanting to be with his family and his kids. Could he take a year off? Yeah, I think he could take a year off, or maybe even move to a front office role.
“But he’s going to be this year’s Craig Counsell, it certainly seems that way. … Cora will be out there, he’s going to be an interesting name. If one of those big teams, the Dodgers or Yankees, somehow flames out in the playoffs, could I see changes taking place? Yes I could.”
Cora has managed the Red Sox for six seasons now, posting a .543 winning percentage with a World Series title in 2018. Since he was speculated as a potential candidate to be the next Dodgers manager, Cora and the Red Sox agreed to a three-year contract extension.
While the Red Sox have played well under his leadership, Cora was also part of the Houston Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, which could have made him a questionable fit for Dodgers manager.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have not made it past the NL Division Series in back-to-back years, which led to some calls for the team to fire Roberts after they were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Expectations for the Dodgers are higher than ever after they spent more than $1 billion this past offseason on the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernández.
Dave Roberts hopes to sign Dodgers contract extension
Roberts has one year remaining on the contract extension he signed before the 2022 season, putting him in position to be a lame-duck manager next year.
Even with some uncertainty looming, Roberts said he is currently focused on the 2024 season but hopes to continue managing the Dodgers for many years to come.
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