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If there is one manager in the MLB that has been ridiculed time and time again for not reaching the expectations of the team, it is Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts.
He was recently on the podcast “Foul Territory” where he spoke about people on the outside wanting the Dodgers to relieve him of his duties with the Dodgers and his reactions towards those sentiments in the most candid way possible.
Roberts has been the manager of the Dodgers for the past eight years, and even with all the success, people think with their stacked lineup each and every year, that he has had an underwhelming stint.
When addressing these notions, Roberts made sure to say that since he does not have social media and that he does not “pay too much attention” to the people spouting claims like that, he says they do not have the full story.
“First of all, I don’t do social media. It think it’s very helpful for my mental health,” Roberts said on the show “Foul Territory.” “I think that now everyone has a platform, they don’t have accountability. I have to be accountable for my decisions, for what is say, my actions, and the world now, people can sound off and create a narrative.
“If it happens well, then there’s nothing to be said, and if it doesn’t, there’s more smoke. I don’t pay too much attention to it because these people, they don’t have all the information, and a lot of it is intentional because there’s a gamesmanship part that I don’t want to divulge to other teams. So a lot of people have half the information.”
Roberts addresses the ‘World Series or bust' notion for Dodgers
So far with Los Angeles, they ended up going to three World Series, winning only one in 2020, which even some people say there should be an asterisk to it since that was the year of a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the title, they made it to the National League championship, where they lost to the Atlanta Braves in 2021 followed by back-to-back seasons of losing in the divisional series.
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With the amount of money they spend on players (despite them being sixth in the majors in payroll), people's expectations for the Dodgers are “World Series or bust,” which Roberts is not a fan of that perspective. He would say that his “players respect the way we go about it.”
“If you look at World Series or bust, or if I don’t win the World Series I’m fired,” Roberts said, “all I can do is, I know my players respect the way we go about it, I go about it.”
Roberts speaks openly on how the negativity impacts his family
However, it is not like the Dodgers are not continuing to improve as they did this past season by obtaining arguably the best player in baseball in Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Angels.
There is a considerable amount of winning happening with the organization. But on the other hand, Roberts knows what he “signed up for” since the Dodgers job comes with massive expectations and eyes all around the ballclub.
“We do win, we got to win in the postseason again, which I expect to,” Roberts said. “I don’t know. I don’t let it get to me too much because I love what I do. It is harder now because there’s a lot more scrutiny. Even when you win, you know there’s still fire Dave Roberts chants. I think for me I’m more sensitive to my kids than myself because this is what I signed up for.”
There is no doubt that it is disheartening to hear Roberts say that, besides the outside noise asking for him to be fired, he is more worried about that negatively impacting his family more than anything. But as said before by him and the general sentiment by coaches that helm huge teams in big cities, there will be scrutiny.
In any sense, Dodgers fans should not be complaining at the very moment since the team currently has one of the best records in baseball with a 53-35 record, which puts them at the top of the NL West. They start a series against the Milwaukee Brewers Friday night on their own field.
