Dave Roberts is expected back, but Dodgers face other key offseason questions
After a decade of unprecedented regular-season dominance, but all too familiar playoff disappointment that continued Saturday night with their elimination in the National League Division Series, the Dodgers find themselves in a familiar place entering this offseason.
Trying to sustain the success that included winning a franchise-record 111 games this year — but build a team more consistent come October, where they’ve captured just one World Series championship during a stretch of 10 consecutive postseason appearances.
One thing that likely won’t change is the manager.
Dave Roberts, the target of fan frustration following the Dodgers’ failure to win more than one championship during his tenure, is expected to return in 2023 for his eighth season as the team’s manager, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. Roberts is set to begin a three-year contract extension he signed before this season.
But after a disastrous NLDS defeat to the San Diego Padres this past week, which was sealed when the Dodgers blew a three-run lead in Game 4 on Saturday night, there are plenty of other unknowns the club will have to address.
Among them — the future of several players, including franchise icons Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner.
“The goal is to win a championship,” Turner said in the aftermath of the Dodgers’ elimination Saturday. “To fall short of that in any round, it doesn’t matter, it’s not a good feeling.”
What made this failure particularly hard for the Dodgers to digest was that it came so quickly after a historic regular season.
Their 111 wins were tied for the fourth most in major league history. They led the majors in runs scored and fewest runs given up. They won their division by 22 games over the Padres. They were the heavy betting favorites to win their seventh World Series title in Los Angeles.
A couple of common themes emerged during the NLDS defeat.
Their potent offense slipped into a postseason drought, transforming from the highest-scoring unit in the major leagues during the regular season to an underwhelming, inefficient group that managed just seven runs in three consecutive losses after Game 1.
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