As the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2022 offseason, they had multiple superstars reach free agency, but one of their biggest questions was about the future of manager Dave Roberts.
Since taking the helm at the start of the 2016 season, Roberts has led the Dodgers to an MLB-best 542-329 record, five NL West titles, three National League pennants and one World Series championship.
However, the 2022 season marks the final year of his contract. Both Roberts and the Dodgers have expressed interest in getting an extension done, but they did not attend to the matter during the MLB lockout as many expected they would.
Now with Spring Training games less than a week away, the Dodgers and Roberts have made significant progress on a new contract.
“We’re moving forward,” Roberts said. “Hopefully we can get it done sooner than later. I think we’re really close. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue here in the coming days.”
Although they are now close to an agreement, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman previously indicated there would be no issue if Roberts did enter the season as a lame-duck manager.
While Roberts is often criticized for in-game decisions, he understands part of the job is needing to take the blame and criticism from players.
Roberts has definitely made subpar decisions, but so has every manager in MLB history. What Roberts does better than most is arguably the hardest part of the job: being someone the players respect and want to play for.
Now entering his seventh season with the club, Roberts has developed a strong reputation as a good communicator and uplifting voice in the clubhouse, which has placed him in high regard throughout the organization.
The skipper also ranks fifth all-time in managerial winning percentage and he is one of only 10 who have won more than 60% of their games.
Roberts “very synced up” with Friedman
Roberts and Friedman have led the Dodgers to tremendous success over the years and created a blueprint for how other teams would love to run their organization.
Despite their success, the two haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. However, Roberts believes he and Friedman are usually on the same page.
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