Dodgers reward Dave Roberts with record-breaking 4-year, $32.4 million contract

Following the celebrations and parades, and in the midst of the Dodgers continuing to upgrade their team in the off-season, the question of when manager Dave Roberts would be given a new contract continued to loom. Despite that, it also never felt like there was much threat that ownership or the front office would let him go into the 2025 season without any guarantees beyond that, and sure enough the two sides have just agreed on a record-breaking four-year, $32.4 million deal.

Sources confirm to me and @FabianArdaya: Dodgers in agreement with Dave Roberts on four-year deal for more than $8M per season, a record average annual value for a manager. First: @JonHeyman

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 10, 2025

Prior to this contract, Craig Counsell‘s five-year, $40 million deal with the Cubs set records for both average annual value and total guarantee. Now the former record belongs to Roberts, and deservedly so considering his resume.

Dave was hired in 2016, and in the nine years since he has a .627 winning percentage, the highest in MLB history. He also has two World Series (and should have three), four NL pennants, eight NL West crowns, and a Manager Of The Year Award, already making him one of the most accomplished managers ever. His 57 postseason wins are only surpassed by Bruce Bochy among active managers, and is already sixth all-time. It’s a Hall Of Fame resume despite less than a decade in charge of a team. Remarkable stuff.

Of course, a huge part of Dave’s success is owed to the front office and the players, but ultimately he’s the one responsible for creating the clubhouse culture that has drawn effusive praise from current and former players alike. He’s also the one who has taken the blame without complaint over the years when the front office has left him with a flawed team and/or his players simply didn’t execute. And while he’s been heavily criticized in the past for his in-game management (and understandably so), Dave has also made a lot of progress in this area, as shown by a near-flawless 2024 playoffs masterclass on the way to the title.

In the end, keeping the continuity going is a no-brainer of a decision for the Dodgers, and it was only a matter of time before this got done. But thankfully it is indeed now official so there’s no potential for any distraction, and it leaves Dave being valued as he should be.