Like him or not, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, he absolutely positively will be at the Dodgers helm for the 2019 season and, in all likelihood, for the next four seasons … as in through the 2022 season.

Although it’s probably safe to say that there are many Dodger fans who would love nothing more than to see the 46-year-old Naha, Japan native and longtime Vista (San Diego), California resident remain as the Dodgers manager, having piloted their beloved team to two consecutive World Series, it’s probably also safe to say that there an equal number of Dodger fans who would love nothing more than to see him gone, having piloted their beloved team to two consecutive World Series losses, for which they put the blame squarely on him.

As any of the 54,367 on hand at Dodger Stadium for Game-5 of this year’s Fall Classic will tell you, the Dodger skipper was heartily booed during pre-game player introductions. Not good.

Roberts received a warm and loud welcome when he was introduced at the NLDS and NLCS at Dodger Stadium. At the World Series, not so much. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

For the most part, Roberts’ three-year contract flew under the radar of most Dodger fans. In fact, few were aware that it actually expired after that painful final out of Game-5 of the World Series. However, hidden in the fine print (so to speak) was the fact that the Dodgers held a club option for 2019.

It’s no secret that Doc and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and (until this past Wednesday) now former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi were in negotiations for a multi-year contract extension with the popular former Dodgers second baseman; negotiations that Friedman described as “Ongoingly pleasant” at the team’s annual season-ending press conference on November 1.

But when the contract extension deadline arrived this past Wednesday (November 7), those negotiations, “ongoingly pleasant” or otherwise, had not met with a new contract extension for Roberts. As such, and with a gun basically at their heads, the Dodgers exercised that one-year club option for 2019 which effectively stopped the clock and gave the Dodgers – and Roberts – as much time as they need to come to agreement on a long-term contract extension.

Although the number of years and amount of money that Roberts is seeking and what the Dodgers are willing to give have been kept very close to their respective vests, it has been rumored that Roberts is looking for “something in the neighborhood” of the four-year contract extension that 44-year-old Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch just received that will take him through the 2022 season.

Obviously, Tim Brown’s tweet was posted prior to Wednesday’s contract extension deadline and before the Dodgers had picked up Doc’s option for 2019. But it gives us a basic idea of what Roberts may be seeking.

The difference, of course, is that A.J. Hinch has a World Series ring and Dave Roberts does not.

Stay tuned…