Dodgers, Dave Roberts Agree to 4-Year, Record-Breaking Contract Extension
The Los Angeles Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts have agreed to a record-breaking contract extension that will make him the highest-paid manager in Major League Baseball history in terms of average annual value and keep him in L.A. for the foreseeable future.
Roberts and the Dodgers have agreed to a four-year deal worth a little over $8 million per year, surpassing Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who became the highest-paid manager in MLB history last offseason after signing a five-year, $40 million deal.
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Roberts was expected to reset the market following an incredible 2024 season that ended in a World Series victory — his second in five years — and that’s exactly what he did.
The Dodgers initially hired Roberts in November 2015. In the nine seasons since taking over as the Dodgers manager, Roberts has led Los Angeles to nine postseason appearances, eight National League West titles, four World Series appearances, and two World Series victories.
The Dodgers have won at least 100 games in five of his eight full seasons (not including the pandemic-shortened 2020 season), and set the single-season franchise record with 111 wins in 2022.
Roberts has a career winning percentage of .627 as the Dodgers manager, which is the highest in MLB history among managers with at least 1,000 games managed. He also won the 2016 NL Manager of the Year award in his first season at the helm.
Despite all the adversity that Roberts has gone through as the manager of the Dodgers, he’s proven time and time again that he’s the right man for the job.
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Roberts rallied the injury-riddled Dodgers multiple times throughout the 2024 season, and managed his bullpen perfectly in the postseason as he willed them back from a 2-1 NL Division Series deficit against the San Diego Padres en route to a World Series victory.
Roberts has gone on record saying the 2024 job was the best he’s done as a manager, and even called out the voters for overlooking him in the Manager of the Year award voting.
“I do think that it was the best job of managing I did — and you’ve known me for a long time and it’s not about the individual awards,” Roberts said. “I do think that the Manager of the Year is an organization award — certainly a coaching staff award — and we got overlooked. I guess it’s part of the blessing and a curse when you put this Dodgers uniform on.
“I do think that it was a lazy look at kind of the voting part of it, but it’s not personal to me. I’m still proud of what we did all year to have the best record in all of baseball given what we went through and ultimately hoist that trophy and win that last game of the year — pretty remarkable and something I’ll remember forever.”
Before agreeing to this record contract extension, Roberts spoke about negotiations and what was important to him.
“I just think it all comes down to value. And I think whatever anyone does, they want their value. That’s kind of where I’m at,” Roberts said.
“But it’s not (a goal) to be the highest-paid manager. If that’s the fallout, fine. But that’s not why I do my job. I do my job because I love baseball, I love the Dodgers and I love the players. But I do feel the body of work is pretty dang good.”
Now, after years of fans calling for Roberts’ job, he has cemented himself as one of the greatest managers in Dodgers franchise history, and will forever be known as the manager who set the new high in MLB.
Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
