The year 2024 couldn’t have gone much better for the Dodgers.
They won their first full-season World Series since 1988, and second (including their pandemic-shortened 2020 title) in the last five seasons. They were transformed on and off the field by Shohei Ohtani, who lived up to every expectation in the first season of his 10-year, $700-million contract. And as the new year approaches, they know they will pursue dynasty status in 2025, trying to become the fifth franchise in MLB’s live ball era to win three championships in a six-year span.
Already this offseason, they’ve begun positioning themselves with several important moves. They signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. They retained slugging outfielder Teoscar Hernández and top reliever Blake Treinen. They even extended key utilityman Tommy Edman. As a result, at this early juncture, they are the clear-cut favorites to defend their title next season.
But more moves remain to be made before the team reports to spring training in early February.
Read more: Shaikin: By re-signing Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers raise the financial stakes even higher
As the calendar flips to 2025, here are four New Year’s resolutions for the club.
A new contract for Dave Roberts
When Craig Counsell was lured away from the Milwaukee Brewers by the Chicago Cubs last offseason, it set a new benchmark for managerial salaries. Five years, $40 million, $8 million per year.
This winter, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts might be poised to break it.
The Dodgers are expected to negotiate a lucrative contract extension with their longtime skipper this offseason, ahead of what would be the final year of the three-year extension he inked in 2022.
And barely a year after Counsell reset the expectation for top manager contracts, Roberts has the credentials to reestablish the market.
Roberts’ nine-season tenure in L.A. has been marked with highs and lows, but the totality of his resume speaks for itself: eight division titles, four National League pennants, two World Series titles and the highest winning percentage in MLB history by a non-Negro Leagues manager.
The 2024 campaign might have also been Roberts’ most impressive feat, as he helped the team navigate a litany of pitching injuries and a fraught postseason pitching plan to join…