Dave Roberts fires back at Yankees’ claim of being the better team after Dodgers’ World Series win

Dave Roberts received a massive contract extension from the LA Dodgers on Monday, just months after guiding the team to a World Series victory. Roberts sat down to discuss the 2024 title with the "Dodgers Territory" podcast and got into some of the discussion surrounding that series.

After the 2024 World Series ended, New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes made headlines by arguing that his team was better. Roberts understood where the Yankees pitcher was coming from.

“I honestly did not hear all of his comments," Roberts said on Tuesday (11:36). "I have no problem with feeling that they're the better team because I'll tell you this, is I've lived it where we've lost division series, we've lost CSs to teams that I thought we were better than. But in that particular series, they out-dueled us."

Roberts has spent many years in Major League Baseball and is aware that the best team doesn't always win a series. While he understands what Cortes was feeling, he also had a rebuttal.

"I still feel that we were the better team, and the best team won, but I understand his thoughts," Roberts said.

LA needed just five games to dispatch the Yankees but it was more competitive than what the result showed. A Freddie Freeman walk-off grand slam in Game 1 gave the Dodgers the momentum they needed to win the series.

Dave Roberts defends actions during strange NLDS play

Dave Roberts and the LA Dodgers had to get by the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, and something strange happened in Game 3. Manny Machado was hit in the back by a throw from the infield and Dodgers fans were upset that he continued to run to third base.

Roberts talked about the play on the "Dodgers Territory" podcast and mentioned why he didn't run onto the field to confront the umpires.

"I think that fans are emotional," Roberts said. "They're fanatical — that’s kind of the short term of fans. And so, first off, Manny's play was legal. I just think that fans feel there's a correlation between a manager getting upset and success on the baseball field. But there's no correlation.

"I would argue that more emotion takes away from the calmness and focus of the players. And so, yeah. I also think that I pick my spots to be emotional. I have a lot of individual discussions, but, at the end of the day, Manny made the right play."

While some fans believe that a manager getting upset can fire up a team, Roberts pointed out that it doesn't always work that way.

"For me to yell or fire up my team for something he did, then I look like the idiot — and I don’t like looking like an idiot," Roberts said.