Dodgers name Dave Roberts as next manager
The Dodgers have named Dave Roberts as their new manager. The club made the announcement Monday morning in Los Angeles. Roberts had been a finalist for the job along with Dodgers Director of Player Development Gabe Kapler.
Roberts, 43 and a UCLA product, spent parts of the 10 seasons as an outfielder in the major leagues. He spent 2003 and part of 2004 with the Dodgers. Over the course of his career, Roberts established himself as a skilled defender and elite base-runner. Roberts’ most famous on-field moment came during Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, when he was a member of the Red Sox:
Since retiring as a player, Roberts has worked as an analyst, coach, and front-office exec. In 2014-15, he served as bench coach for the Padres.
Roberts becomes the 32nd manager in franchise history and, as Ken Rosenthal notes, the first minority manager in Dodgers history.
After being eliminated in the NLDS round of the 2015 playoffs, the Dodgers, with a new, analytics-driven front office that may not have seen eye to eye with Don Mattingly, parted ways with Mattingly despite his leading the team to five straight winning seasons and three straight NL West titles. Mattingly has since become manager of the Marlins.
Now for some things to know …
1. Roberts inherits a good team but an uncertain payroll situation.
Roberts will take over a 92-win team and a payroll that’s already in excess of $150 million for 2016. However, the Dodgers may be facing the free agent losses of NL Cy Young runner-up Zack Greinke and starting second baseman Howie Kendrick. (There’s also trade speculation regarding Yasiel Puig.) As well, the Dodgers brought in the brain-trust of Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi in part to get leaner after the bloated contracts of the Ned Colletti years. As such, it’s not certain that the Dodgers will be especially active on the free agent market, at least when it comes to the big-ticket guys like Greinke and David Price. Of course they have the resources, but in general the front office is looking to get more efficient on the player payroll front. That could mean a greater reliance on internal solutions and mid-line acquisitions.
2. Roberts needs to lead the Dodgers deep into the postseason.
As mentioned above, there’s nothing wrong with Mattingly’s regular season resume. However, he never led the Dodgers to the World Series. When you’re a revenue colossus like the contemporary Dodgers at the top of the success cycle, it’s about the trophies. If Roberts gets them to take that next step — as, for instance, Terry Francona did after he took over for Grady Little in Boston — then he’ll be rightly viewed as an upgrade. If that doesn’t happen, then we’ll all be wondering why the front office chased off Mattingly in the first place.
3. Roberts becomes one of the youngest managers in baseball.
He’s presently 43 years and 176 days old. Among current big-league managers, just Kevin Cash of the Rays, A.J. Hinch of the Astros, and the newly hired Andy Green of the Padres are younger than Roberts (h/t: True Blue LA).
4. MLB’s been hoping for more minority hires.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, like his predecessor, has publicly expressed his desire to see more diversity among big-league managers and in big-league front offices. Earlier this offseason, Dusty Baker made his way back to the dugout, as the Nationals hired him to helm the likely contender in 2016. Roberts, though, is a young first-timer (save for his one-game interim stint with the Padres this past season), and in MLB’s eyes that’s likely a very welcome step forward for baseball. Roberts is the son of an African-American father and a Japanese mother.
Dave Roberts is the Dodgers’ new skipper. (USATSI)
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