On Monday afternoon, the Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts agreed to a contract extension of four seasons. The extension comes after weeks upon weeks of stops and starts in discussions between the Dodgers’ decision makers and Roberts.
Securing his spot as the Dodgers’ manager through the 2022 season, Roberts’ contract has further extended the tenure of Roberts that was extended a single year when the Dodgers picked up Roberts’ 2019 team option in November.
Dave Roberts has served as the Dodgers’ manager for the past three seasons, posting a 287-200 record in the regular season and leading the Dodgers’ to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2017 and 2018. The Dodgers have never missed the postseason under Roberts’ lead, going a perfect three for three with him as manager.
Precisely as legendary Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda did in the 1977 and 1978 seasons, Dave Roberts suffered back-to-back World Series losses in the 2017 and 2018 seasons as the Dodgers’ manager. Roberts received heavy criticism from fans and analysts alike for a handful of in-game decisions that likely cost the Dodgers a game or two of the World Series. The criticism went as high (or low, you choose) as the United States’ President commenting on Roberts’ decisions on his Twitter account.
Andrew Friedman released a statement following the completion of the extension, stating, “Keeping Doc as our leader on the field was a top priority this offseason and now that we’ve accomplished that we are excited to collectively shift all of our focus to doing all we can to bring a world championship to our passionate fans…”
Arrick Joel has covered the Dodgers since 2017, and for Dodgers-LowDown since 2018. Follow @ArrickJoel and @DodgersLowDown on Twitter for more.