After a gluttonous amount of spending on free agents in the last couple of offseasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers are making sure that manager Dave Roberts gets a generous piece of the pie as well.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported on Thursday that the Dodgers are nearing a historic extension with Roberts. While the extension has not been finalized just yet, “strong progress” has been made on a deal that would break the average annual value record for an MLB manager.
The extension is expected to be finalized by next Wednesday before the Dodgers leave for Tokyo, Japan to kick off the 2025 MLB season, Sherman adds.
Roberts, 52, has been the manager of the Dodgers since 2016. With a record of 851-506 (.627), he owns by far the best winning percentage of any active MLB manager and has now led the Dodgers to multiple World Series victories as well (in 2020 and 2024).
Sherman notes that the current record for a managerial contract belongs to Craig Counsell of the Chicago Cubs, who is making $8 million per year as part of a five-year, $40 million agreement with the team. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, whom Roberts and the Dodgers just defeated in the 2024 World Series, also recently received an extension for a good amount less than that.
Roberts, the NL Manager of the Year in 2016, is often criticized for his perceived overmanagement and is also sometimes prone to making embarrassing mistakes. But he is clearly the right man for the job in Los Angeles and will soon be getting rewarded handsomely to continue in his post.
