Dave Roberts Provides Massive Update on Extension Talks With Dodgers

Gabe Smallson | Feb 8, 2025

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers aren't just trying to secure deals with on-field talent this offseason.

Manager Dave Roberts is towards the end of his managerial contract and is reportedly at the beginning of negotiations for a new deal.

As a player, Roberts won a ring in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox, after ironically being acquired that year from the Dodgers. He of course has two wins as a manager for the Dodgers in 2020 and 2024.

The Dodgers and their skipper can both agree that he is worth among the most — if not the most —lucrative contracts among MLB managers.

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When asked about nearing the end of his contract on the Baseball Tonight podcast with ESPN insider Buster Olney, Roberts seemed hopeful.

“We have just started talking,” Roberts said. “I think for me, I’m hopeful, but I’m focused on winning games. I want to focus on getting better as a manager, getting our guys prepared for Opening Day, for this great season, to win another championship.

"Hopefully, everything takes care of itself. It’s about value and I just love this organization, but yeah, you want to feel your value absolutely.”

On the Baseball Tonight podcast, Dave Roberts discusses his contract negotiations with the Dodgers, which have just started. pic.twitter.com/FrzTT4fWKV

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 7, 2025

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Roberts was voted the National League manager of the year in 2016, his first year as a Dodger, and although he didn't win the award in either of his World Series-winning years, was voted by the Baseball Writers Association of America's manager of the year in 2024.

Much like the Dodgers roster, Roberts has strong roots in Los Angeles, as well as the great nation of Japan.

Born in Naha, Okinawa in Japan, Roberts went to college at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also became the first manager of Asian heritage to lead a team to the World Series in 2017 in their controversial triumph against the Houston Astros.

Roberts, in further ironic moves, rounded out his playing career with stints as a member of the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants.

As a player, Roberts was a career .266 hitter with 23 home runs, 213 RBIs, 243 stolen bases, and 721 hits with the five ball clubs he played for.

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