The Dodgers have exercised their 2019 club option on manager Dave Roberts, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman tells reporters (Twitter link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). The two sides have been discussing an extension since the 2018 season ended, and while they’ve yet to reach an agreement, talks on a multi-year deal will continue. Friedman adds that he expects a multi-year deal to be reached at some point.
Though there have been numerous reports pointing to a likely extension — Fancred’s Jon Heyman indicated yesterday that a four-year deal could be in the works — the Dodgers’ front office has had plenty of other issues with which to deal in the days since the World Series concluded. The team has already renegotiated David Freese’s contract to retain him for the 2019 season at a slightly lesser rate than his previous club option would’ve called for. More prominently, Dodgers brass hammered out a contract extension for ace Clayton Kershaw that guarantees him $93MM through the 2021 season.
Added to the pile of complications is the fact that the Dodgers have been in the process of sorting out how they’ll proceed without general manager Farhan Zaidi, who left the organization to become the president of baseball operations for the division-rival Giants. Meanwhile, third base coach Chris Woodward has been named the new manager of the Rangers, while minor league hitting coordinator Paco Figueroa is on his way to the Phillies, where he’ll serve as an outfield/baserunning coach.
The delay in lining up the terms of a new contract with Roberts, then, is somewhat understandable. And while some Dodgers fans will bristle at the notion of a new contract given Roberts’ affinity for platoon-based matchups and an adherence to limiting the number of times a starting pitcher is allowed to face an opposing lineup, the front office is clearly pleased with both the on-field results and the manner in which Roberts has managed a clubhouse filled with big personalities. Los Angeles has appeared in back-to-back World Series and won an NL West division title in each of Roberts’ seasons at the helm, and the Dodger staff has been largely successful in getting high-profile players to buy into functioning in reduced roles that are often dependent on matchups.
Bring back Walt Alston!
Roberts helped Bos win in 04. helped them win 14 yrs later
Dave Roberts is a Boston Hero. Let’s Keep it That Way 😉
Yeah, Dave sure had a hard time at the plate and on the field, didn’t he?
Roberts continued the same poor decisions that started last year when he passed starting Wood (excellent in Game 4) and started Darvish (terrible Game 3) in Game 7. continued these poor choices this current WS (Madson in high leverage, allowed ALL 7 inherited runners to score, replaced Hill)
Hill is just as much to blame for that, telling him to take it batter by batter and then when Roberts went out to CHECK ON HIM, Hill just straight up hands him the ball and quit.
Bull!
Bull crap!
Well he could have told Hill he was just checking on him instead of taking him out, or was Hill in charge and Dave was just an avatar?
Maybe not at the plate, but he sure had a hard time on the mound! Lol
You forgot that they lost their hitting coach as well… to the Reds of all places…without even a promotion! Poor Turner Ward…. but we might be better off without him!
Heh
Kind of interesting that the Reds stole coaches away from both teams that competed in the NLCS (hitting coach from the Dodgers, pitching coach from the Brewers)
He got sick of Puig embarrassing him.
Should be fun watching the Reds swinging wildly for the fences with two strikes or with a runner at third and less than 2 outs next year.
Roberts is the best manager Boston ever had.
@BigGiant….Far be it from me to defend Dave Roberts and he did not have a great last 2 postseason in my opinion, but how many times in MLB is the manager really the deciding factor in a given game?……Not very often that’s for sure and the last 2 years the Dodgers were beaten by superior teams, the Astros and the Redsox………No one could ever convince me that the KC Royals did not win the 2015 Royals in spite of Ned Yost, not because of him.
And Mike Scoscia as 3B coach!
No!!!!! I hope the let him play it out and when he fails again which he will go get maddon whom gets along perfectly with friedman.
How about adding Chase Utley to the Staff? No one more respected in the Dodger organization than Mr. Utley.
The guy who just retired to be with family