{"id":231713,"date":"2026-03-22T22:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/231713\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:30:11","slug":"for-dodgers-the-goal-is-simple-they-want-to-keep-winning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/231713\/","title":{"rendered":"For Dodgers, the goal is simple: ‘They want to keep winning’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dave Roberts<\/a> doesn\u2019t get the same butterflies before opening day that fluttered in his stomach early in his managerial career.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been through the transition from spring training to regular season plenty of times over the course of a 10-year playing career and 10 previous seasons at the helm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game\u2019s slowed down more,\u201d Roberts said before leaving Camelback Ranch for the Freeway Series, \u201cbut my joy for opening day or the start of the season hasn\u2019t changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers<\/a> open the season Thursday at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks, in pursuit of a third straight World Series<\/a> title. On paper, they\u2019re the clear favorite.<\/p>\n

There have been just four three-peats in MLB history, three by the Yankees (1936-39, 1949-53, 1998-2000) and one by the A\u2019s (1972-74). But because of the starpower and payroll of this team, if the Dodgers miss the mark, the season will be branded a failure.<\/p>\n

Roberts has gotten used to that kind of outside pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single year, if we don\u2019t win the World Series, it\u2019s a \u2018failure,\u2019\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI don\u2019t really believe in that because it is hard to win the World Series. Baseball is different. We\u2019ve done it back-to-back, three out of the last six years. But baseball, you need a lot of good fortune, you need to play well at the right time, you\u2019ve got to win a lot of games to put yourself in that position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that our guys do a really good job of not letting that narrative, that expectation, bleed into our psyche.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts\u2019 \u201cjust win today,\u201d mantra may sound cliche, but recent years have served as proof of concept. It\u2019s worked for those star-studded rosters.<\/p>\n

This offseason the Dodgers raised their on-paper ceiling even higher by signing the best available free-agent hitter, Kyle Tucker<\/a>, and closer, Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a> for deals worth a combined $309 million. <\/p>\n

\"Kyle <\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker prepares for an at-bat against the San Diego Padres during spring training on Feb. 22.<\/p>\n

(Norm Hall \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in a moment in time with an incredibly talented roster,\u201d president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman<\/a> said, \u201cI think the mindset is, \u2018Don\u2019t sit back on your heels, be aggressive, and don\u2019t be nonchalant about the opportunity that we have in front of us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Not to mention, who knows what financial guardrails may be in place beyond this year, under a new collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

As big spenders who keep winning \u2014 they spent close to $600 million<\/a> in player payroll and luxury taxes last year \u2014 the Dodgers have taken on a villain role outside of Los Angeles. Every new signing the past couple years elicited a collective groan from opposing fan bases who had dared to hope their team had put the most compelling offer on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard for me to believe that we are the ones doing the wrong thing,\u201d World Series hero Miguel Rojas<\/a> said. \u201cThere\u2019s other teams that were just maybe one pitch away from getting into the World Series, or a couple wins away from going into the playoffs, and they didn\u2019t do anything to get better. So who are the ones who are doing bad for the sport? And I just feel really proud that they\u2019re doing what they\u2019re doing here with the Dodgers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a virtuous cycle. That aggressive offseason approach, even after winning back-to-back World Series, was also a selling point for the very same big-name free agents who made it pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a winning team, and they want to keep winning,\u201d D\u00edaz said last week. \u201cWhen you\u2019re going to make a decision like that, that\u2019s going to push you to be here because this team is really good. They keep improving every single year. And I\u2019m really happy to be here, and can\u2019t wait to start the season with these guys and try to win another World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz is still seeking his first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chance to pitch for them and help them to win will be something I\u2019m looking forward to,\u201d D\u00edaz said. \u201cI prepare myself to win every single night. I just need the opportunity to show all my abilities and be ready always.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers closer Edwin D\u00edaz throws during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 16.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

This core won\u2019t be together forever. And though this roster doesn\u2019t inspire much hand wringing, the age of the Dodgers\u2019 stars has at least raised some eyebrows.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really talented roster, it\u2019s a roster that competes as well or better than any other roster, it\u2019s a roster that prepares going into a game, I would argue, better than any other roster,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of benefits that come with that [experience]. But as we look out years, that\u2019s going to start to become more and more of a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think in a lot of ways, that\u2019s why a lot of these large-revenue teams that had success ultimately fell off the cliff, was they just kept going back to that. And at some point the music stops. And so for us, before the music stops, it\u2019s how to try to … accomplish both maintaining a really high level of play while introducing young, talented players onto our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a push-and-pull that the Dodgers have managed well enough to make 13 straight playoff appearances. And when the first seven trips didn\u2019t result in a World Series trophy, they kept pushing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never going to be easy,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to win your first one, you\u2019re kind of chasing everybody else, and you\u2019re in that hunt of the championship. But as soon as you have it, you\u2019re going to have everybody else behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Roberts doesn\u2019t get the same butterflies before opening day that fluttered in his stomach early in his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[81478,4396,217,8797,423,48,52,51,47,50,49,1741,2140,105136,16713,105138,105137,427,315,4470,72],"class_list":["post-231713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-champion-dodgers","tag-dave-roberts","tag-day","tag-edwin-diaz","tag-game","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-lot","tag-payroll","tag-previous-season","tag-roster","tag-selling-point","tag-talented-roster","tag-team","tag-time","tag-world-series","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}