Spring training is the time for optimistic quotes and remarks in MLB.
It’s just that time of the year: players are reporting in the “best shape of their lives,” teams have all made “impactful” acquisitions, and everybody is brimming with confidence.
October, however, always comes around to collect the bills.
This has been the case in recent days with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
In an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show on March 24, in the middle of spring training, Roberts said the following: “We will win the World Series this year. Put it on the record.”
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 16, 2022
After the regular season, that actually appeared to be the case: the Dodgers looked like the best team in baseball and finished with an incredible 111-51 record.
However, everything fell apart in the playoffs.
They lost the National League Division Series to the San Diego Padres, three games to one.
Roberts’ Quote Isn’t Looking So Hot Right Now
The Dodgers took Game 1, but the Padres made an impressive comeback and can finally say they will finish the season better than LA.
That Roberts quote, on the other hand, isn’t looking so good right now.
He wasn’t necessarily cocky or underestimating his competition: perhaps he was trying to show his team that big expectations would accompany them all season.
Perhaps he was trying to let his players know that, in his view, there wasn’t a team better prepared to make a postseason run and win the Series.
But the truth is that the Dodgers were knocked out way earlier than everybody anticipated, and other teams’ fans (and even some Dodgers supporters) are questioning something he said in spring training.
Such is the life of high-payroll contenders with a huge fan base and lots of haters around the baseball universe.
NEXT: Dodgers Writer Declares 2022 The Ultimate Disaster