The season will mark one full decade for as supervisor of the , a adorned run during which Roberts has led the workforce to eight division titles, 4 Nationwide League pennants, two World Sequence titles and extra regular-season wins than another franchise in baseball.
On Monday, Roberts added yet another distinction to his tenure.
As had been lengthy anticipated this offseason, the Dodgers lastly locked down Roberts — who has the very best profitable share in MLB historical past amongst non-Negro League managers — to a contract extension, agreeing to a four-year deal that features an unprecedented $8.1-million annual wage, based on an individual with data of the state of affairs however not approved to talk publicly.
The contract didn’t exceed the five-year, $40-million deal the Chicago Cubs gave Craig Counsell final yr to lure the previous Brewers supervisor away from Milwaukee, with the whole worth of Roberts’ deal coming in at $32.4 million.
However it does characterize a considerably enhanced dedication from the workforce to Roberts, who will prime Counsell’s $8-million yearly wage and bypass the flexibility to check the waters of managerial free company subsequent offseason, when his — which was resulting from pay him $4 million this season — was set to run out.
Regardless of main the workforce to its first championship in a technology in 2020, when the Dodgers ended a 32-year World Sequence drought in that season’s pandemic-shortened marketing campaign, Roberts started final season on one thing of a sizzling seat. The workforce had did not repeat its title in 2021, when a 106-win membership flamed out within the NL Championship Sequence. The following two years had been , with the workforce in back-to-back NL Division Sequence eliminations.
Final October, the Dodgers had been on the verge of a 3rd straight early exit, dealing with elimination simply 4 video games into the postseason throughout an NLDS showdown towards the rival San Diego Padres. On the time, there was a lot hypothesis that Roberts’ job may need been on the road.
Then, the 52-year-old skipper did a few of his greatest work in a Dodgers uniform, serving to lead an injury-ravaged roster previous the Padres earlier than rolling to a different championship with defeats of the and .
All alongside, gamers credited his calming affect as a key driver behind their October march. Because the Dodgers superior deeper into the postseason, many pointed again to a Roberts referred to as in Atlanta — when the workforce was reeling from the lack of ace pitcher Tyler Glasnow to a season-ending elbow harm — as a vital turning level of their run to a championship.
“He manages this membership primarily based on the blokes on this room,” third baseman stated final October. “He doesn’t do it off a spreadsheet. He doesn’t do it off what somebody tells him. He walks round and he has conversations with all people.”
Roberts’ resume now speaks for itself: He’s certainly one of simply 5 managers in MLB historical past with 5 100-plus-win seasons, to associate with an NL supervisor of the yr award in 2016. His 56 postseason victories rank sixth all time, and path Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers by only one for the lead amongst lively skippers. Nobody with at the least 1,000 video games of managerial expertise has topped his .627 profession profitable share (his win-loss ledger reads 851-507). And, given the roster expertise that shall be at his disposal over the period of his new deal, he seems to be on a probable Corridor of Fame path, on monitor to hitch Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda as doubtlessly the third Dodgers supervisor to be inducted into Cooperstown.
Towards that backdrop, Roberts and the Dodgers started negotiating a brand new deal shortly earlier than the beginning of spring coaching. Whereas Roberts was extensively anticipated to rival Counsell’s record-setting contract from final offseason, it took till Monday for the perimeters to lastly discover center floor on a deal that can hold him with the membership by means of the 2028 season.
Along with his outdated deal up on the finish of this season, there was the potential for Roberts to check the market, the place he would have undoubtedly been a highly-coveted commodity throughout the league. However all alongside, he made clear that his purpose was to stay in Los Angeles long-term, repeatedly reiterating this spring that he was hopeful of getting a brand new deal carried out earlier than the tip of camp. Dodgers brass felt equally, crediting Roberts’ steadying hand as a key issue behind final yr’s run.
“I believe there have been instances in the course of the yr, with a few of the accidents we had, the place it was just a little bit deflating,” workforce president of baseball operations stated. “And I believe Doc did an important job of getting in entrance of that and pumping some enthusiasm and optimism into the group.”
Thus, the perimeters lastly discovered some center floor in negotiations, and struck a deal to maintain Roberts in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future — guaranteeing that, one decade right into a adorned partnership, neither he nor the workforce shall be splitting up any time quickly.
