Although the Los Angeles Dodgers’ three consecutive postseason appearances could be kindly described as enormous letdowns, the franchise does not intend to fire manager Dave Roberts.
Five days after the Dodgers were humiliated by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS, on Tuesday, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman of the team said that the coaching staff will remain in place.
Through SB Nation’s Eric Stephen, Friedman commended the work Roberts and the Dodgers coaching team accomplished this season:
The group’s collective effort and the culture—not just, ‘Hey, everyone gets along’—while walking through the clubhouse and observing how everyone is focused on trying to win a game, all of our guys. As we postmortem, I can state with total certainty that it was not due to a lack of effort, which isn’t something I can say that about many things. observing how these guys cared for themselves, went above and beyond to set themselves for success, and prepared themselves.
“It’s finding out from there because, in the end, that’s what counts most—that we didn’t do it. However, I believe Doc and our coaching staff performed admirably this season, and none of us performed well in any of the three games versus Arizona.”
Roberts recently concluded his eighth season managing the Dodgers, during which he recorded the best regular-season win percentage since 1950 and the sixth-best in MLB history. With the exception of their 2020 championship-winning season, which was cut short by the pandemic, the Dodgers have completed an MLB record four consecutive seasons with 100 wins.
Nevertheless, despite the Dodgers’ winning record, there have been rumors that Roberts’ employment may be in peril because to the team’s frequent postseason exit habits. Although Friedman has not publicly discussed the concept so far, the following are the reasons for and against a change that would cause major ripples in MLB:
The defense of the Dodgers’ decision to Dave Roberts
Recall how the New York Mets crumbled when they were expected to win 100 games. Do you recall how the New York Yankees failed to recover from a slew of injuries? Recall how, in close games this season, the San Diego Padres were the worst baseball team?
All three of those teams, who had payrolls greater than the Dodgers’ this season, missed the postseason. Because you don’t fire a manager who has guided your team to the playoffs every season of his employment just because you lost three games, and because making the playoffs is difficult even for teams with the resources that the Dodgers have.
When managing a team like the Dodgers, it is very easy to take Dave Roberts for granted, but fans really shouldn’t—especially in light of his performance this season. The Dodgers have had some injuries, as you may remember (though that would be an understatement).
