{"id":62133,"date":"2025-05-18T02:36:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T02:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=62133"},"modified":"2025-05-18T02:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T02:36:31","slug":"breaking-dave-roberts-talks-managing-shohei-ohtani-and-his-impact-on-the-dodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=62133","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Dave Roberts Talks Managing Shohei Ohtani and His Impact on the Dodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dodgers<\/p>\n

The stage in the center-field pavilion was brimming with Dodgers royalty.<\/p>\n

There, smiling in front of dozens of cameras was Shohei Ohtani, Mark Walter, Andrew Friedman, Ohtani\u2019s agent Nez Balelo and Ohtani\u2019s longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.<\/p>\n

Seemingly every person who is important to Ohtani\u2019s Dodgers success this season basked in the spotlight, save one.<\/p>\n

Dave Roberts sat in the audience. What was Dave Roberts doing sitting in the audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coronation of a news conference Thursday at Dodger Stadium contained 700 million reasons why Othani picked the Dodgers to celebrate his unique skills.<\/p>\n

Yet, strangely, their record-setting manager didn\u2019t seem to be one of those reasons.<\/p>\n

Roberts wasn\u2019t introduced before the presser. Ohtani made it clear during the presser that his contract was with Walter and Friedman, no mention of Roberts. Then after the presser, Roberts was only granted a few minutes to answer a handful of questions while sitting with Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes.<\/p>\n

One of those questions was about whether the signing puts more pressure on the Dodgers to win now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly does,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cUs three sitting up here, Mark [Walter] and our staff and our fans, this is what we dream of, to have the highest of expectations.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Guess who will bear the weight of those increased expectations? Yeah, the guy who spent the afternoon in the shadows.<\/p>\n

Another question centered on Roberts\u2019 seemingly strained relationship with the front-office types after he openly annoyed them during last week\u2019s winter meetings when he broke the Ohtani Rules by acknowledging the team had met with the superstar free agent and considered him a priority. For at least a day, it seemed as if Roberts was at odds with his bosses, not a good look for either party.<\/p>\n

Was Roberts relieved that his breaking the code of silence didn\u2019t kill the deal?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cIt ended really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are he and Friedman OK?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been OK from the very beginning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Friedman was asked the same question.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a good conversation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are they? It\u2019s hard to tell. But it\u2019s clear the Ohtani signing puts Roberts under the microscope like never before.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have to win a championship sooner than later, with this new increased heat subtly coming from their new virtual co-owner. Ohtani won\u2019t ever do anything to get a manager fired, but he can certainly withhold his support if the Dodgers aren\u2019t winning titles. He went through four managers in six years in Anaheim, and he\u2019s not backing another first-round collapse.<\/p>\n

The way he heard the Dodgers, their last 10 years have been a first-round collapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I had the meeting with them, the ownership group, they said when they look back at the last 10 years, even though they\u2019ve been to the playoffs every single year, won a World Series ring, they consider that a failure,\u201d Ohtani explained through his interpreter. \u201cWhen I heard that, I knew they were all about winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does that mean there are people in the organization who look at Roberts\u2019 eight seasons as a failure? Because that\u2019s just crazy. He\u2019s had his postseason missteps, certainly, but lately those have been a result of the front office\u2019s failure to provide adequate pitching, and his consistent summers have constantly put them in a position to win.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have won at least 100 games in five of his eight seasons, his .630 winning percentage is the best in baseball history among managers with at least 1,000 games, and he has three World Series appearances and one World Series championship.<\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani poses with Mark Walter, left, and Andrew Friedman, right, on Thursday at Dodger Stadium. If either executive leaves the team, Ohtani can get out of his contract. (Wally Skalij\/Los Angeles Times)
\nWith his endless energy and eternal optimism, Roberts is slowly becoming the new Tommy Lasorda, and he should increasingly play a bigger role in the Dodgers\u2019 family portrait.<\/p>\n

But during Thursday\u2019s picturesque open house, he did not.<\/p>\n

Ohtani was asked about the unique clause in his contract that would allow him to opt out of the 10-year deal if chairman Walter or baseball president Friedman left the team.<\/p>\n

There was understandably no mention of Roberts in that contract, but also no mention of Roberts in his explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has to be on the same page in order to have a winning organization,\u201d Ohtani said of Walter and Friedman. \u201cI feel like those two are on top of it and they\u2019re in control of everything \u2026 I feel almost like I\u2019m having a contract with those two guys and I feel like if one of them were gone and we\u2019ll not be the same page, things might get a little out of control \u2026 I just wanted like, a safety net.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

News flash for Ohtani: Roberts is your safety net.<\/p>\n

Despite the two recent first-round collapses, Roberts is coming off his best managerial season yet \u2014 he won a division with half the team in bandages \u2014 and he\u2019s the perfect person to guide this now volatile machine through the usual messes.<\/p>\n

Ohtani has never experienced the major-league madness that can overtake a Dodgers clubhouse located loudly in the middle of an entertainment capital. He\u2019ll soon learn that he\u2019ll not only want Roberts on that wall, he\u2019ll need him on that wall.<\/p>\n

Roberts\u2019 specialty is in muting that madness, having led the team through the distractions of Yasiel Puig, the demons of COVID, and the departures of stars such as Corey Seager and veterans such as Justin Turner.<\/p>\n

Roberts can be a big part of Ohtani\u2019s happiness here if Ohtani gives him a chance. He\u2019ll always publicly support him, he\u2019ll be patient with him when he returns from his recent elbow surgery, and he\u2019ll be flexible with him when he returns to the mound in 2025.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, and he\u2019ll deftly handle the 200% increase in media attention that could require him to hold two news conferences in two different languages every day.<\/p>\n

It seems as if Roberts is made for this moment, yet he might not be given long to embrace it.<\/p>\n

The last time a Dodgers manager felt this much heat from a free-agent signing, a struggling Lasorda was handed Kirk Gibson in 1988. Lasorda had to make it work to ensure his job security. He did. He won a championship and stayed in the dugout eight more seasons.<\/p>\n

If Roberts wants to hang with Ohtani, he\u2019ll have to experience similar success, and quickly. His championship mandate has increased. His margin for error has lessened. There are 700 million reasons why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stage in the center-field pavilion was brimming with Dodgers royalty. 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