The Los Angeles Dodgers have remained loyal to their manager, Dave Roberts, despite the never-ending controversy over his suitability for the position and whether or not he ought to be dismissed.
As he gets about to start his ninth season as the Dodgers’ manager in 2024, Roberts has been with the team since his hiring in November 2015
Following Craig Counsell’s departure from the Milwaukee Brewers to join the Chicago Cubs, where he was paid a record $8 million a year, Roberts became the National League’s manager with the longest tenure. Counsell has a couple months of advantage over Roberts for that title because he was recruited by the Brewers in May of 2015.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ Kevin Cash is the only manager in Major League Baseball with a longer tenure. A season prior to Roberts’ hiring, in 2015, Cash took over as manager of the Rays.
Since both Roberts and Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais joined the team in the 2016 season, they are also tied.
Roberts has guided the Dodgers to an MLB-best 753-442 record in his tenure as manager. Only Hall of Famer Bullet Rogan (.698 over five seasons), Vic Harris (.663 over 11 seasons), and Hall of Famer Rube Foster (.633 over seven seasons) have a higher win-loss percentage than him. His current mark is the fourth-best in MLB history.
With 45 postseason victories, Roberts is sixth all-time, but he is also sixth with 39 defeats. Only Dusty Baker has managed more baseball in October than him, despite having the seventh-best win percentage among active managers at 536.
Roberts has made eight postseason appearances since the Dodgers advanced to the postseason each season under his leadership. He has won one World Series and three NL pennants during that time.
Additionally, Roberts has led the NL West in seven championships.
The Dodgers have also won 100 games five times under Roberts’ leadership. In 2020, they were on track to do it after setting a record for the highest single-season winning percentage at 717, but the COVID-19 epidemic kept them from playing as many as sixty games.
Furthermore, the 111 victory earned by the 2022 Dodgers under manager Roberts set a franchise record, ranked second all-time in NL wins during a season, and tied for fourth in MLB history.
The only teams with more victories than the Chicago Cubs in 1906 (116), the Seattle Mariners in 2001 (116), and the New York Yankees in 1998 (114) were the Cleveland Indians in 1954 (111).
The Dodgers made MLB history by becoming the first team to reach 100 wins in four straight full seasons in 2023. They also became the first team to reach 106 wins in three straight full seasons, in 2022 and 2023.
Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman defended skipper Roberts in the face of calls to remove him and stated he will continue to lead the team.
Roberts was already signed by the Dodgers to a three-year contract extension in March 2022, which is valid through the 2025 campaign.
In the Manager of the Year voting, Dave Roberts was overlookedRoberts was not included among the contenders for NL Manager of the Year when the annual MLB Award finalists were revealed on Monday. Rather, the three finalists were Coundsell, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, and Atlanta Braves skipper Brian Snitker.
In 2016, Roberts’ first season as the Dodgers’ manager, he was awarded his first and only Manager of the Year.