You can officially retire #FireDaveRoberts.
It seems blasphemous that we would even be talking about a team firing their manager after a franchise-record 111-win regular season. But that’s just how bad this Dodgers’ collapse was.
Since Dave Roberts took over the Dodgers in November of 2015, they’ve been the most dominant regular season team in baseball. They have an MLB-best 653 wins during that span, well above the second-place Astros with 625 wins. The Dodgers have also won six NL West titles and three NL pennants, however, they have just one World Series to show for it in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
So after yet another disappointing end to a promising season, many thought that Roberts would be on the chopping block.
He isn’t, and Andrew Friedman confirmed that and defended him in his exit interview on Tuesday.
“I don’t think the criticism that Dave has received is fair,” Friedman said. “This was an organizational failure.”
Friedman then went on to say that Roberts is “100%” coming back next season.
So if you were one of the fans who wanted Roberts out, then unfortunately, you’ll have to wait at least another year (and probably more because he’s signed through 2025). But on the bright side, the Dodgers will still look different in 2023, as they’ll use this offseason to revamp the roster, and fill the holes that became apparent in the 2022 NLDS.
