The Dodgers announced a four-year extension to sign manager Dave Roberts, covering the 2026-29 season. The team did not confirm the salary figures, but Roberts reportedly will receive a 32.4mm salary with an average annual interest rate of 8.1mm. That surpassed Craig Counsell’s five-year, $40mm traded 8mm AAV with the Cubs.
The news is not shocking. Clubs usually don’t like to put the captain in the “la-legged duck” position, that is, to manage transactions that are about to expire. Reports throughout the winter suggest that the Dodgers and Roberts are likely to have a new deal before the 2025 season begins. The two sides reportedly made progress on a deal that would allow Roberts to surpass Cusel’s AAV on Thursday. On Friday, Roberts called the speech “one-yard line,” according to the Fabian Ardaya of track and field.
Roberts has been the Dodgers since November 2015. The club was already in good overall shape at the time, having just won three straight wins under manager Don Mattingly but lost three straight playoffs. They lost to the Cardinals in 2013 and then suffered a quick NLDS defeat over the next two seasons.
Under Roberts, regular season success continued and playoff records improved. They made it to the NLC and World Series in season one and his second and third games. The club lost the 2017 World Series to Astros and the 2018 series, both of which are promoting the asterisks that won the club. The Dodgers suffered a quick NLDS exit in 2019, but shortened the trophy in the 2020 season. The next three seasons put the club out before the World Series, but they won all the wins again in 2024, giving Roberts his second ring in five years.
Roberts currently has a regular season management record of 851-506, with a 56-44 run in the playoffs, with the Dodgers making it to the playoffs with him every season. Roberts has some full rosters to use, but seems to be loved by players and other Dodgers.
After the 2023 season, Counsell left the winemaker, reportedly improving the manager’s revenue capacity. Joe Torre was able to earn an 8mm salary on the Yankees days, but the captain’s salary seemed to stagnate. Terry Francona is reportedly the highest-paid manager in 2023 with a salary of 4.5mm. Counsell managed to get a five-year, 40mm deal from Cubs, with an AAV of 8mm. This seems to be the basis of the baseline, where Roberts was able to negotiate. Roberts said earlier in the winter that he hopes to close a new deal but wants to “feel his worth.”
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Roberts and the Dodgers have agreed to have a four-year contract of just over 8mm each year. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that the deal will begin in 2026.
