Feb 21, 2025; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) gets ready for a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

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Dodgers, Dave Roberts discussing long-term extension that could make him highest-paid manager

Expected to exceed the $8 million per year Craig Counsell is earning.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts are in the final stages of negotiating a long-term contract extension that could set a new benchmark for managerial salaries in Major League Baseball. Talks, which began in earnest in early February, have seen some fluctuations, but with the Dodgers set to open the season in Japan next week, both sides appear close to finalizing a deal.

Dave Roberts, Dodgers progressing in talks for possible record deal https://t.co/JhkkrvQurc
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 7, 2025

Roberts, who is heading into his 10th season at the helm, is currently in the last year of the three-year extension he signed in March 2022. His impending new contract is expected to surpass the five-year, $40 million deal Craig Counsell signed with the Chicago Cubs in November 2023, currently the richest managerial contract in the sport. If finalized, Roberts would likely establish a new record for average annual salary, potentially exceeding the $8 million per year Counsell is earning.

While the exact terms of the deal remain unknown, industry expectations suggest that the Dodgers’ front office values Roberts’ consistent success and championship pedigree enough to break new financial ground.

Since taking over in 2016, Roberts has been nothing short of dominant. In nine seasons, he has led the Dodgers to four National League pennants, eight division titles, and a staggering .627 regular-season winning percentage, the highest of any manager with at least 250 games under his belt. His tenure also includes a World Series championship in 2020 and another title in 2024.

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Under Roberts, the Dodgers have won an MLB-best 907 games across both the regular season and postseason. The only teams even remotely close in that span are the Houston Astros (862) and the New York Yankees (807). The Dodgers have also recorded five 100-win seasons in six full years from 2017 to 2023, including an astounding .717 winning percentage during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Even in the one season they didn’t win the NL West under Roberts (2021), the Dodgers still finished with 106 wins, only to be edged out by a San Francisco Giants team that won 107. That season ended with Los Angeles getting revenge in the playoffs, eliminating the Giants en route to another deep postseason run.

Dave Roberts

Dodgers

Mohsin Baldiwala

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Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.