Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes told reporters at the GM Meetings in November that the team wanted to finalize a contract extension with manager Dave Roberts this offseason.
In a sense, the offseason ended this week as pitchers and catchers began their formal workout activities at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Roberts still does not have a contract beyond the 2025 season.
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In an appearance on the Baseball Tonight podcast with Buster Olney, Roberts said those extension talks only recently began.
“We have just started talking,” Roberts said. “I think for me, I’m hopeful but I’m going to focus on winning games, on getting better as a manager. Getting our guys prepared for Opening Day for this great season to win another championship, and hope everything takes care of itself.”
“It’s about value, and I just love this organization, but you want to feel your value, absolutely.”
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Roberts is 851-506 in the regular season since he became the Dodgers’ manager prior to the 2016 season. His .627 winning percentage is the highest of any AL/NL manager who’s managed at least 100 games.
In 2024, Roberts established himself as one of the premier managers in baseball, and silenced his doubters with a championship.
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Prior to the 2023 season, Roberts signed a three-year extension. His previous contract, signed in Dec. 2018, took him from 2019-22, during which he won his first World Series with the Dodgers.
Roberts’ teams have reached the postseason in all nine of his seasons in Los Angeles, winning the National League West eight times. His 56 postseason wins rank sixth all-time.
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Coincidentally, the New York Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, is also entering the final year of his contract. Like Roberts, he’s begun extension talks with the Yankees, but is not officially signed beyond this season.
The Dodgers enter the 2025 season as the favorites to win the World Series again, despite no team having won in back-to-back seasons since the New York Yankees in 2000.
Los Angeles added free agents Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Michael Conforto to a roster that defeated the Yankees in five games in Oct. 2024 to win the World Series.
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