Sports
Dodgers are on track to make playoffs again. So why hasn't Dave Roberts been given a new contract?
Everyone knows how this will play out — the way it plays out every year.
As the postseason approaches, the whispers will increase in volume. Eventually, they will become the story and all anyone will talk about is how Dave Roberts will be fired if the Dodgers don’t win the World Series.
The intensity of this speculation varies from season to season, depending on how much time Roberts has left on his contract.
In this case, Roberts has one year after this season. The conversations about his future will be louder than usual.
Which is a load of nonsense.
The Dodgers know what they have in Roberts, who now has a nine-season track record of nearly unprecedented success. Even if they falter in October again and upper management wants to deflect blame, there would be no upside in attempting to make him a scapegoat. Just like in the last couple of postseasons, the Dodgers’ likeliest playoff pitfalls will be the obvious holes on the roster, which the majority of fans are smart enough to recognize.
So why haven’t the Dodgers approached Roberts about a new contract? Why would they allow Roberts to be subjected to the kind of scrutiny that weakens him in the eyes of his players? Why would they give oxygen to theories that could only be a distraction for the team?
Just extend his deal already.
Asked if the Dodgers have considered doing that, Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, replied in a text message, “Doc is a big part of what we have accomplished in the past and we look forward to him being a big part of what we will accomplish in the future. Right now, all of our focus and attention are on doing everything we can to win a Championship this season.”
Again, why haven’t the Dodgers approached Roberts about a new contract?
Apart from four Negro League managers, no manager in baseball history has as high of a winning percentage as Roberts, and none of the four won as many games as Roberts.
Roberts is on track to lead the Dodgers to the postseason for the ninth time in nine years, and if that sounds boring, well, maybe it’s time to appreciate boring.
Consider the team’s current situation.
Tyler Glasnow, who is already nearing his career high in innings pitched, was blown up in a recent start. Yoshinobu Yamamoto hasn’t thrown a baseball since he was sidelined because of a shoulder injury. Walker Buehler isn’t even with the team, as he aborted his initial attempt to return from an elbow reconstruction and is working with private coaches in Florida.
Any other World Series contender would have been concerned, if not downright panicking.
The Dodgers? They’re behaving as if nothing’s wrong, even after they were beaten twice in a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
This unmistakable calmness around Dodger Stadium shouldn’t be taken for granted — nor should Roberts, who is responsible for shaping this environment.
The Dodgers have made 11 consecutive postseason appearances, but their history didn’t guarantee them being on track to return to the October stage. Look at what’s happening to the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers.
A billion-dollar winter didn’t guarantee the Dodgers any victories, either. Look at what happened to the New York Mets and San Diego Padres after their spending sprees in recent years.
The peaceful atmosphere around the Dodgers obscures a number of events that could have distracted, or even derailed, them. Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from Shohei Ohtani to cover his gambling debts. Gavin Lux played his way out of being the starting shortstop, resulting in Mookie Betts taking over the position. Last month, Betts went down because of a broken hand.
Roberts kept the Dodgers in balance. He did so with his deft management of an old bullpen, by talking confidence into the likes of journeyman reliever Yohan Ramírez, by trusting an unproven starter such as Gavin Stone and by ensuring Miguel Rojas remained engaged enough to be able to step in to play shortstop when Betts became unavailable.
Before one recent game, Roberts accompanied Clayton Kershaw to the outfield, where he watched the sidelined veteran throw on flat ground. On his way back to the bench, Roberts checked in with utilityman Chris Taylor, who was batting .095 in the team’s first 64 games but over .260 since.
Roberts claimed to not be concerned about a new contract, or how the absence of one could shape the public’s perception of him.
“The right answer, or the honest answer, is that I’m focused on this year and winning a championship for the city of Los Angeles and the Dodgers,” Roberts said. “Obviously, my hope is that I could be here. I don’t want to manage anywhere else, so I hope things work out.”
Roberts shouldn’t have to hope. The matter should be resolved as soon as possible.
The last time Roberts was in this position was in 2021, the year after the Dodgers won the World Series. They were eliminated in the National League Championship Series that year after Max Scherzer couldn’t take the mound because the front office implemented an unnecessary plan for him to close out the previous round. Roberts’ competence was called into question as the Dodgers lost control of the series and speculation mounted over his future. The Dodgers ultimately extended his contract before his lame-duck season the next year, but not until late in spring training.
Unless the Dodgers think Roberts isn’t the best option to lead them into the future — and every indication is that he is — there’s no reason for them to let him be scrutinized that way again. It’s disrespectful to Roberts, and it’s counterproductive to winning another championship.
On the field, he’s produced the first 50-50 season in baseball history and won a World Series. Off it, he’s sold everything from unsweetened green tea to skin-care products.
As it was, it felt as if Shohei Ohtani was everywhere. In reality, this was just half of the package.
The Dodgers are finally about to have the complete version of Ohtani, the right-handed pitcher with a 100-mph fastball who also launches 470-foot homers as a left-handed hitter.
Two-Way Shohei is back.
Ohtani will pitch his first game for the Dodgers on Monday, the team naming him as its starter for the opening game of a four-game series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
What was already a one-of-a-kind show will evolve into something that might never be seen again after Ohtani retires — not at Dodger Stadium, not at any other major league stadium, not anywhere in the world.
The news of Ohtani’s mound return became a source of anticipation in the Dodgers’ clubhouse, with Clayton Kershaw describing himself as “super excited.”
“I think we all are,” Kershaw said. “I think as fans of the game and just seeing him day in and day out get ready to pitch and do both, it’s going to be really fun, whether it’s one inning or whatever it is.”
The Dodgers plan to deploy Ohtani for an inning or two as an opener.
For most of this season, the Dodgers operated under the assumption that Ohtani wouldn’t pitch until after the All-Star break. The change of plans doesn’t represent a speeding up of a timeline as much as it does a modification of the route that will be taken to a final destination.
Ohtani last pitched in 2023 when he was still playing for the Angels, and he didn’t pitch in his first season for the Dodgers last year as he recovered from his second Tommy John surgery.
Shohei Ohtani pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium on June 4.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In recent weeks, he prepared for his mound return by pitching to hitters in live batting practice. He threw 44 pitches in three innings in his third and most recent session.
However, throwing live batting practice and taking four or five at-bats in an actual game as a designated hitter was like “playing a doubleheader for him,” Roberts said.
To eliminate the exhausting cycle of warming up to throw, cooling down after, and warming up again to play a game, the Dodgers figured they could build up Ohtani’s arm in games. Whatever modest Ohtani’s contributions can make from the mound, the Dodgers will take them. With multiple starters on the injured list, the bullpen has shouldered a disproportionate share of the pitching load.
Because Ohtani wouldn’t take up an extra roster spot, Kershaw pointed out, “We don’t have to lose a pitcher or anything, so if he throws an inning a week, it’s great.”
Ohtani will likely pitch about once a week, with every start expected to be about an inning longer than the previous one. Theoretically, he could pitch four times before the All-Star break, which would stretch him out to be ready to pitch five innings when the Dodgers resume play.
While Ohtani remains in a ramp-up phase and his fastball has sat in the 94-95 mph range in his live bullpen sessions, still not at the 98-99 mph he once averaged. However, team officials believe he is ready to compete at the major league level because of the movement of his pitches.
Ohtani evidently thinks so as well.
“I think I’m approaching a level that is sufficient to pitch in games,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Saturday night.
His 25 homers are the most in the National League. He is also batting .297 with 41 runs batted in. The Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, he’s also stolen 11 bases.
Ohtani said didn’t think his offensive production would be diminished by pitching.
“I played as just a DH last year,” he said, “but to do both at the same time is my usual style.”
Ohtani played six seasons with the Angels, and he was a two-way player in four of them. His last three seasons with them made up what was arguably the greatest three-year stretch in the history of the sport, as he won two MVP awards and would have won a third if not for a 62-home season by Aaron Judge.
He has an opportunity now to match, or even surpass, that. Only this time, he will do so on a team that has a chance to reward him for his unprecedented achievements with the postseason glory he craves.
Sports
Singer claims Dodgers didn’t want her to sing Spanish rendition of US national anthem amid anti-ICE riots
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Vanessa Hernández, known by her stage name Nezza, sang a Spanish rendition of the United States national anthem at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night, and she claimed the team wished she didn’t.
“El Pendón Estrellado,” the official Spanish rendition of the national anthem commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, was sung by Nezza during Saturday’s Los Angeles Dodgers game against the San Francisco Giants.
Nezza, wearing a Dominican Republic shirt while performing, posted a video on TikTok of a team employee telling her, “We are going to do the song in English today.”
NEZZA attends a Creator Screening in support of “IF” at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on May 09, 2024, in West Hollywood, California. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
“I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed,” the employee said in the video.
Nezza decided to sing the Spanish version anyway, saying in a later TikTok video that it was in response to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in Los Angeles that has led to protests and unrest in the city.
“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Nezza said in her video. “Especially because we’re in L.A. and with everything happening. I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not.
“I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente (for my people).”
WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM DUBS ITSELF ‘IMMIGRANT CITY FOOTBALL CLUB’ AMID ANTI-ICE RIOTS IN LOS ANGELES
Fox News Digital reached out to the Dodgers for comment.
The team also hasn’t made any public statements about the protests that have been going on the past week in Los Angeles.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about the protests, and he maintained a neutral stance.
“Honestly, I don’t know enough, to be quite honest with you,” he said, via The Athletic. “I know that when you’re having to bring people in and deport people, all the unrest, it’s certainly unsettling for everyone. But I haven’t dug enough and can’t speak intelligently on it.”
(Hailey Archambault/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, one of Roberts’ players, veteran utility man Kiké Hernández, made a social media post on Saturday night before the game about the protests.
“I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own,” Hernández wrote on Instagram. “I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city. Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart.
“ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights. #CityOfImmigrants.”
Other Los Angeles-based professional sports teams have taken a stance, including the NWSL’s Angely City F.C., which gave fans “Immigrant City Football Club” T-shirts at their game on Saturday. Players were also seen warming up with the t-shirts on before their match to show support for those protesting.
Nezza made a claim about the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Getty Images/IMAGN)
Nezza’s Spanish rendition of the anthem came on the day of numerous “No Kings” protests, which were against the military parade in Washington, D.C., that coincided with President Donald Trump’s birthday, across the country.
Trump’s birthday was also the 250th birthday celebration of the United States Army.
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Singer and social media personality Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
And, according to a video the performer later posted to social media, she did so against the wishes of the Dodgers organization.
In a video Nezza, whose full name is Vanessa Hernández, posted to TikTok, an unidentified Dodgers employee is heard telling her before Saturday’s performance that “we are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.”
Then, the video cuts to Nezza — who was wearing a Dominican Republic shirt — signing a Spanish version of the “Star-Spangled Banner” on the field ahead of the Dodgers’ win against the San Francisco Giants.
The video’s caption: “So I did it anyway.”
In a separate video, Nezza, 30, said the version of the song she sang was commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and that she wanted to sing it amid the recent unrest in Los Angeles stemming from raids by ICE agents.
“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of no, especially because we’re in LA and with everything happening,” she said. “But today out of all days, I just could not believe when she [the Dodgers employee] walked in and told me ‘no.’ But I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.”
The Dodgers did not issue a public comment on the situation, but a team official said there were no consequences from the club regarding the performance and that Nezza would be welcome back at the stadium in the future.
Nezza reacts after singing the national anthem prior to a game between the Dodgers and Giants in at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
In general, the Dodgers have largely been quiet about the raids and resulting protests in the city over the last week.
Manager Dave Roberts has been asked about the situation twice. On Monday, he said that, “I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now.”
On Friday, he offered little further comment: “I know that when you’re having to bring people in and deport people, all the unrest, it’s certainly unsettling for everyone,” he said, “But I haven’t dug enough and can’t speak intelligently on it.”
Veteran Kiké Hernández spoke out on Instagram on Saturday, writing that “I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”
The Dodgers, however, have not issued any team-level statement, and a club executive told The Times’ Dylan Hernández on Friday that they did not plan to make any comment.
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