Newest Manager in MLB Praises Dodgers' Dave Roberts as Mentor

National League manager Dave Roberts (30) of the Los Angeles Dodgers high-fives his team during player introductions before the 2019 MLB All Star Game at Progressive Field on July 9, 2019. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Dodgers took a chance on Dave Roberts in 2016, hiring him to his first full-time manager's job at any level of baseball. Ten seasons later, he's among the most respected managers in baseball.

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Roberts, 53, is the fourth-longest tenured manager in baseball. The retirement of Bruce Bochy and the dismissal of Bob Melvin leaves only Terry Francona, A.J. Hinch, Kevin Cash and Craig Counsell with more regular season games managed than Roberts.

That puts Roberts in a special position as a sounding board to his coaching counterparts around the game.

Derek Shelton recently told the Rosters to Rings podcast that the managerial ranks are a lonely fraternity with few mentors to go around. Shelton, who was hired to manage the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, believes that's a problem.

"What ends up happening in Major League Baseball is, you lean on other managers in the game," Shelton said, specifically mentioning Hinch and former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. "I think you end up talking to people who have similar mindsets to you — in terms of what you’re doing and how you’re going about it — then you also develop relationships with other people.

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“Dave Roberts is someone who’s become a pseudo-mentor to me," Shelton continued. "He’s been through a lot more different things than I have. We’re similar in age but have different backgrounds. He was a really good major league player. He’s managed the best team in baseball. But different mindsets, in terms of what you’re doing, the ability to lead, how you go about things."

Shelton was the Twins' bench coach before he was hired to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates going into the 2020 season. Shelton's teams never finished above .500 over the next five seasons. The Pirates had a 12-26 record when Shelton was fired in May.

After taking the rest of the season to reflect, Shelton now returns to a familiar setting for his second act as a manager.

Perhaps Roberts — who now stands on the precipice of his second consecutive World Series title, as one of the game's senior bench bosses — played some small role in helping Shelton land back on his feet.

"If you’re going to improve as a leader you have to be able to get information from someone, and you have to be able to take that information and listen to it," Shelton said. "I really think it’s something that in professional sports we don’t do as well.”

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