Gustavo Dudamel discusses his final season leading Los Angeles Philharmonic

• March 7, 2025

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel came to the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009, and in the years since then both he and the orchestra found fame as he rose to eventually be both its musical and artistic director.

But things change, and after 17 years, Dudamel will leave the LA Phil for the same roles at the New York Philharmonic at the end of the Los Angeles orchestra’s 2025-26 season.

On Thursday, Dudamel sat down at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles to talk with Kim Noltemy, the LA Phil president and CEO, about his plans for that 17th and final season, which kicks off in September. The LA Phil has dubbed the season “Gracias Gustavo,” but to Dudamel, the thanks are all his to give.

“It is an overwhelming moment, you know, to see all of this journey, all of this beautiful, deep, wonderful journey,” Dudamel said from the stage of the BP Hall inside the orchestra’s home on Grand Avenue. “The privilege that I have for all of these years to lead this wonderful orchestra? I feel blessed. You know, I think it’s not ‘gracias, Gustavo.

“This orchestra embraced me since the very first moment that I came here to Los Angeles when I was a young conducting animal,” he said to the laughter of reporters and LA Phil staffers as he referenced the way some described him in his earliest days.

And while Dudamel may be leaving the LA Phil, the LA Phil will remain a world-class orchestra long after his departure, Dudamel said.

“I have to say we have created a wonderful artistic human environment to make beautiful music for Los Angeles,” he said. “This is the great thing of this institution. I came here in 2009 and people ask me, ‘What has changed?’ or ‘What you have done?’ Nothing. It has been a natural path. We have created our own style, our own mission.

“I cannot take (credit for) that as an individual,” Dudamel continued. “It has been a work of our team, the administration, the artistic team, and the orchestra, who is on the stage and play all of this wonderful music. So this is something that will never end.

“We are closing a chapter, and we are opening a new chapter. I think it’s very important for art institutions to evolve and to be flexible to new things. You know, we cannot be so selfish and say, like, Okay, I’m the one.

“It’s beautiful to see that we are closing a chapter in such a beautiful state of our relationship,” Dudamel said. “It’s not closing a chapter because it’s not working anymore. It’s working perfectly, and it’s wonderful because in this case it will be a beautiful path to the next person that will lead this orchestra.”

In the final season, Dudamel will lead 14 different programs from the podium in front of the orchestra, most of them over a handful of days and nights.

His season opens in September with the world premiere of a work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid for orchestra and choir co-commissioned by the LA Phil and New York Philharmonic. It is paired with Richard Strauss’s “An Alpine Spring.”

In October, Dudamel will conduct a pair of Stravinsky ballets, “The Firebird Suite” and “The Rite of Spring,” both of which he is closely associated, and pairs them with the United States premiere of “Frenzy” by John Adams, the LA Phil’s creative chair. Later in that month, he’ll conduct the orchestra with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Mahler’s Second Symphony, and also take the philharmonic for a two-week, three-country tour of Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei and Tainan, Taiwan.

After a winter break, Dudamel returns in February for several programs focused around Beethoven, one featuring his music for the play “Egmont” as well as pieces by Ricardo Lorenz and Robert Schumann, and the other his first-ever time leading the LA Phil in Beethoven’s “Missa solemnis,” a piece he described as one of the most difficult a conductor can take on.

“This is a piece some conductors are afraid to do because it has such a dimension,” Dudamel said of the work for orchestra and chorus. “It goes beyond the architecture, the technical part of the music, which is huge. To study that score is fascinating. Every time that I open the score, I discover a new room in that beautiful building that is this piece.

“Generally, conductors wait until they get to an age, old age especially, to do this piece,” said the 44-year-old conductor. “Because it’s like a sacred kind of unique place.

“I believe this piece is about faith,” he said. “It makes me really believe, you know, in this other dimension of greatness and beauty that Beethoven was trying to put in this music. With this difficult score, insane, you know, request for singers, for orchestra.

“I said, ‘Look, at least I have some gray hair,’” Dudamel said, laughing. “I’m looking forward. I’m afraid.”

At the end of February into March, he’ll first do an LA Phil commissioned ballet score, Gabriela Ortiz’s “Revolución diamanatina,” written in response and in support of Mexican women’s uprising against violence in 2019. That also features the world premiere of the ballet by dance company Grupo Corpo. Next comes another Beethoven, his “Pastoral” symphony, matched with Thomas Ades’ “Inferno’ from Dante, another commissioned ballet score, this one a 2024 Grammy winner for best orchestral performance.

March also sees the world premiere of an LA Phil commissioned piece by a variety of L.A.-based composers in celebration of the Judy Baca mural “The Great Wall of Los Angeles,” which Dudamel described being blown away by when his friend the movie director Alejandro González Iñárritu introduced him to.

“He said, ‘We’ll get some dinner, but I want to show you something very special that you will not believe that is there,’” Dudamel said of Iñárritu, who is contributing an original film component to the work. “So we went to this area of the city, and we started to walk on the street, and then suddenly we saw this mural with all the history of Los Angeles. I said, ‘Like, how is this beautiful thing there?’

“So we were dreaming,” he said. “We were sitting there in the grass watching all of these beautiful (images) that Judy Baca created together with a wonderful group of young people, which she worked with. And we say that we have to do something. We have to show this to the world. To Los Angeles, too.”

In May, Dudamel, director Alberto Arvelo, and architect Frank Gehry, who designed the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, reunite for Wagner’s “Die Walküre,” with an elaborate production Dudamel suggested surpasses what they created for Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” the first part of Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

“We are like the three amigos,” he said of his close friendships with Arvelo and Gehry. “We have a little bit of tequila, and I say, ‘It’s gonna be expensive.’ It’s going to be very expensive. So there’s something special happening next year.”

Also in May, star cellist Yo-Yo Ma is coming to work with Dudamel for the world premiere of a new concerto by Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón,  and later that month, a combination of Strauss’s “Ein Heldenleben” and one more world premiere of an LA Phil commission by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra.

After an evening of concertos on June 4, designed to showcase many of the soloists Dudamel has worked with in the orchestra over the years, he completes his work at the LA Phil with “Gracias Gustavo: Celebrating 17 Years,” with works that honor his Venezuelan and American identities, and close this chapter of his career.

Asked by Noltemy what he hoped audiences will take from this final season, Dudamel said his hope is a simple one.

“That they enjoy it,” he replied. And then came a flash of the humor and charisma that has made him so beloved here.

“I hope I am not doing the concert and people are like, ‘Why did he pick this?’ Come and suffer with the LA Phil!’” Dudamel finished as he and the room burst into laughter.

​ Orange County Register 

No. 2 USC women staying present-minded entering Big Ten Tournament

• March 7, 2025

The USC women’s basketball team has gained confidence and grown from handing UCLA its only two losses of the season – the latter of which earned the Trojans the Big Ten Conference regular-season title.

That fact is still on the Bruins’ minds, but USC is living in the present now that the team has arrived in Indianapolis as the top seed for the Big Ten Tournament.

“That (accomplishment) should be part of who we are, but it doesn’t give us any points,” Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters Thursday. “We’re trying to win – and it’s unique to win three games in three days. We’re locked in on that challenge.”

The Trojans (26-2 overall) will play ninth-seeded Indiana (19-11), which beat eighth-seeded Oregon 78-62 on Thursday, and will have to win three games in a row in order to take home a second conference trophy Sunday.

Second-seeded UCLA (27-2) is on the opposite side of the bracket, making a third rivalry game of the season a realistic possibility.

“I don’t think it’s hard to keep them from looking ahead,” Gottlieb said, “and the reason for that is we’ve talked about whether we play Indiana or Oregon, that is like a second round and NCAA Tournament game. In this league, if you’re an eight, nine seed – shoot, if you’re a 10, 11 seed in our conference – you’re probably an eight, nine seed in the NCAA Tournament.”

Five Big Ten teams are currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, proving the intensity of the conference. USC is the highest-ranked Big Ten team at No. 2 and took home multiple all-conference honors.

JuJu Watkins was named Player of the Year and Gottlieb is Coach of the Year. Watkins and Kiki Iriafen are first-team selections while Rayah Marshall and Kennedy Smith earned second-team recognition.

The success against Big Ten opponents as well as the travel schedule have USC feeling prepared for a strong Big Ten Tournament appearance as well as a lengthy NCAA Tournament run.

“A lot of these teams could be second-round games,” Iriafen said. “In the Big Ten, you can see so many different things and just speaking for myself and my position, sometimes I’m guarding a more post-y post and then other games I’m guarding a guard who’s just really playing the four. It’s a different defensive matchup every single night. The Big Ten keeps you on your toes.”

USC beat Indiana, 73-66, on Jan. 19. The Trojans fell behind early but gained a six-point advantage at halftime before putting together a 12-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Four starters – Watkins, Iriafen, Smith and Marshall – scored in double figures and Talia von Oelhoffen added 10 points off the bench.

“We built a lead and then we lost the lead because we put them at the free-throw line,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said of USC on Thursday. “We tell our kids after every opponent: They don’t need your help. So quit fouling them, quit putting them at the free-throw line, make them earn everything. It’s another shot at one of the best teams in the country and one of the best players in the country. It’s going to take our very best.”

No. 2 USC vs. INDIANA

When: Friday, 9 a.m. PT

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

TV: Big Ten Network

​ Orange County Register 

Miguel’s Jr. is serving fries for the first time

• March 7, 2025

This is a week of firsts for Miguel’s Jr.

The family-owned, Corona-based chain is serving fries and churros for the first time and has a new recipe for carne asada, according to president and chief executive officer Javier Vasquez.

Miguel’s Jr. began serving loaded fries with carne asada for $13.99 on Wednesday, March 5. They were an immediate best-seller, Vasquez said in a phone interview.

“Carne fries have been growing in Mexican cuisine, and we just wanted to have fun.”

The new carne asada is made with a wet marinade instead of a dry marinade, he said.

ALSO SEE: Chipotle Mexican Grill introduces Chipotle Honey Chicken

Although carne asada is the recommended protein, customers can also order loaded fries with chicken or beef. They also come with a scoop of guacamole, jack cheese, serrano salsa, tomatoes, cilantro and onions.

Fries are also offered in a $12.79 Cali Burrito, also made with carne asada, or by themselves for $4.49.

The churro, which has warm caramel filling, costs $2.29.

Vasquez said fries and churros are not frozen, so the chain can keep its commitment to having no freezers in its restaurants.

The fries and churro are available for a limited time, but the carne asada will be a permanent menu item, according to Vasquez.

Information: miguelsjr.com

​ Orange County Register 

Trump casts doubt on NATO solidarity, despite it aiding the US after Sept. 11

• March 7, 2025

By MICHELLE L. PRICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the U.S.’s defense if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after Sept. 11 — the only time in its history that the defense guarantee has been invoked.

Trump also suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don’t meet defense spending targets, a day after his pick for NATO ambassador assured senators that the administration’s commitment to the military alliance was “ironclad.”

Trump’s comments denigrating NATO, which was formed to counter Soviet aggression during the Cold War, are largely in line with his yearslong criticism of the alliance, which he has accused of not paying its fair share toward the cost of defense. But they come at a time of heightened concern in the Western world over Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen NATO as a threat, and as the U.S. president seeks to pressure Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal with the country that invaded it three years ago.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent the alliance into upheaval last month when he said in a speech that the U.S. would not participate in any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, and would not defend any country that participated in it if attacked by Russia.

Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that other countries would not come to the defense of the U.S. — though they have done exactly that, in the only instance that the Article 5 defense guarantee was invoked.

“You know the biggest problem I have with NATO? I really, I mean, I know the guys very well. They’re friends of mine. But if the United States was in trouble, and we called them, we said, ‘We got a problem, France. We got a problem, couple of others I won’t mention. Do you think they’re going to come and protect us?’ They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure.”

Article 5 was invoked after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, leading to NATO’s largest operation in Afghanistan. France’s military participated in the operation.

“We are loyal and faithful allies,” French President Emmanuel Macron responded Thursday, expressing “respect and friendship” towards U.S. leaders.

“I think we’re entitled to expect the same,” he said.

Macron invoked “centuries-old history,” namechecking the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, who was a major-general in the American Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and Gen. John Pershing, commander of the American army in France during World War I. Macron added that a few days ago, he met American World War II veterans who landed on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

France and the U.S. “have always been there for each other,” Macron said.

When asked Thursday if it he was making it U.S. policy that the U.S. would not defend NATO countries that don’t meet military spending targets, Trump said, “well, I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them.”

Trump has suggested since his 2016 presidential campaign that the U.S. under his leadership might not comply with the alliance’s mutual defense guarantees and would only defend countries that met targets to commit 2% of their gross domestic products on military spending.

The U.S. is the most powerful nation of the seven-decade alliance, has the largest economy among members and spends more on defense than any other member.

The U.S. was one of 12 nations that formed NATO following World War II to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union to Western European during the Cold War. Its membership has since grown to 32 countries, and its bedrock mutual defense guarantee, known as Article 5, states that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Trump on Thursday also seemed to suggest the U.S. commitment to NATO might be leveraged in his trade war as he seeks to target what he says are unfair trade policies with other nations, including the European Union.

“I view NATO as potentially good, but you’ve got to get, you’ve got to get some good thinking in NATO. It’s very unfair, what’s been happening,” Trump said. “Until I came along, we were paying close to 100% of NATO. So think of it, we’re paying 100% of their military, and they’re screwing us on trade.”

On Wednesday, Trump’s choice for NATO ambassador, Matt Whitaker, said at his confirmation hearing that in regards to the U.S. commitment to the NATO alliance and specifically Article 5, “It will be ironclad.”

Last year, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations had hit the military alliance’s defense spending target.

Trump has taken credit for countries meeting those targets because of his threats, and Stoltenberg himself has said Trump was responsible for getting other nations to increase their spending.

Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Brussels contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Convicted Capitol rioter to speak at Laguna Woods GOP event amid backlash

• March 7, 2025

Jeffrey Scott Brown, one of the first three men to be convicted for assaulting police during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, will be hosted Friday by a local Republican club that has described him as a patriot and a “victim of the January 6 tragedy.”

Brown, of Santa Ana, is slated to be the key speaker at the March 7 monthly luncheon of the Republican Club of Laguna Woods. He’s expected to share his story from Jan. 6 and offer “updates on his court case and pardon,” according to the club.

The meeting is open only to club members and their guests, though club president Pat Micone said a video recording might be available later.

“We have chosen to keep this event private. We look forward to hearing our speaker’s story,” said Micone.

Security camera footage and a YouTube video captured images of Brown spraying pepper spray at Capitol and Metropolitan police officers, according to court records. In the video, Brown is seen at the Lower West Terrace entrance, using his body to push the crowd forward and spraying an officer whose gas mask had been torn off his face.

Court records show that Brown initially struggled to use the spray canister before being shown how to operate it. But once he mastered the technique, Brown moved to the front of the rioters and sprayed officers as they tried to maintain the line.

In December 2022, Brown and two other men were convicted for their actions during the Capitol riot, which delayed a joint session of Congress convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Brown was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison.

But Brown’s situation changed in January, when President Donald Trump issued full commutations and pardons to those indicted or sentenced in connection with the Capitol riot. That list included people, like Brown, convicted of crimes involving violence against police officers.

According to the invitation for the luncheon, Brown’s interest in politics was sparked in June, 2015, when Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his White House run. It was, according to the invite, “an event that marked the beginning of and engaging and transformative journey.”

It’s unclear if Brown would be welcome at all other GOP events.

Will O’Neill, the newly elected chair of the Orange County Republican Party, said the county party has no position on Brown’s invitation to speak. He noted that local Republican clubs operate independently of the Orange County GOP, and the Republican Club of Laguna Woods is not officially recognized by the county party.

Brown’s appearance also has drawn attention from outside the Republican party. The Laguna Woods Democratic Club has scheduled a protest outside the meeting, just before the luncheon begins.

The Democratic group’s president, Mary Ribando, said the club has received complaints about Brown’s appearance, from members and from others in Laguna Woods.

“Within the village, we have been in touch with security and the village administration. Our hope was they might ask the Republican club to rescind the invitation to their scheduled speaker, but free speech prevails,” she said.

Trump’s decision to grant a blanket pardon to all protesters, including those who engaged in violence during the Capitol riot, initially drew criticism from some Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, who represents Laguna Woods in the House.

“It’s an insult to the law enforcement and police officers who work every day to protect our community and individuals like us,” Kim told the Hill in January. “Especially those (police) who work in the Capitol, we owe them a debt of gratitude for doing what they do.”

Since then Kim hasn’t issued any public statements about the pardons. When Kim’s office was contacted to comment for this story, a spokesperson referred back to the quote from January.

In early January, before Trump issued the pardon, Vice President JD Vance suggested any Jan. 6 clemency should not extend to people who committed violence. Since then, however, Vance has defended Trump’s decision, claiming the Jan. 6 defendants faced the “weight of a weaponized Department of Justice.”

The upcoming talk in Laguna Woods isn’t the first time a Jan. 6 convict has been celebrated as a patriot in Southern California. In January, Derek Kinnison of Lake Elsinore, who was sentenced to over two years in prison, received a hero’s welcome at a church in Temecula.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Thursday, March 6

• March 7, 2025

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Thursday, March 6

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

THURSDAY’S SCORES

BOYS SOCCER

CIF SOCAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Semifinals

DIVISION I

JSerra 4, St. Augustine (San Diego) 0

DIVISION III

Bell 3, Anaheim 2

DIVISION IV

Central Union (San Diego) 2, Laguna Beach 1

DIVISION V

Classical Academy (San Diego) 1, St. Margaret’s 0

BASEBALL

NONLEAGUE

Marina 1, Ocean View 0

Newport Harbor 3, Dana Hills 2

SOFTBALL

DAVE KOPS TOURNAMENT

La Habra 7, Sunnyside 6

St. Joseph 1, El Toro 0

Cypress 8, Fountain Valley 2

Fullerton 2, Hamilton 1

Whittier Christian 10, Kofa 0

Villa Park 4, South Hills 1

Capistrano Valley 9, Lakewood 2

Coronado 3, JSerra 2

El Modena 8, Westlake 0

La Habra 4, Ridgeline 1

Mater Dei 4, Torrance 3

Pacifica 3, Agoura 0

Canyon 7, Campo Verde 1

Canyon 4, Murrieta Mesa 2

BOYS GOLF

NONLEAGUE

Canyon 198, El Modena 206

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Calvary Chapel def. Kennedy, 26-24, 25-18, 25-14

NONLEAGUE

Godinez def. Fairmont Prep, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21

​ Orange County Register 

Treasury ends enforcement of business ownership database meant to stop shell company formation

• March 3, 2025

By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced it will not enforce a Biden-era small business rule intended to curb money laundering and shell company formation.

In a Sunday evening announcement, Treasury said in a news release that it will not impose penalties now or in the future if companies fail to register for the agency’s beneficial ownership information database that was created during the Biden administration.

Despite efforts by small businesses to undue the rule in the courts, it remains in effect.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump on his Truth Social media site praised the suspension of enforcement of the rule and said the database is “outrageous and invasive.”

“This Biden rule has been an absolute disaster for Small Businesses Nationwide,” he said. “The economic menace of BOI reporting will soon be no more.”

In September 2022, the Treasury Department started rulemaking to create a database that would contain personal information on the owners of at least 32 million U.S. businesses as part of an effort to combat shell company formations and illicit finance.

The rule required most American businesses with fewer than 20 employees to register their business owners with the government as of Jan. 1, 2024. Small businesses are targeted because shell companies, often used to hide illegally obtained assets, tend to have few employees.

Treasury officials, including former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, said the regulatory burden would be small, costing about $85 per business, but would offer benefits to law enforcement officials seeking to track down money launderers and other criminals. She said in January 2024 that more than 100,000 businesses had filed beneficial ownership information with Treasury.

The rule and its legislative authority — the Corporate Transparency Act, an anti-money laundering statue passed in 2021 — have been mired in litigation. In 2022, a small business lobbying group sued to block the Treasury Department’s requirement that tens of millions of small businesses register with the government. On Feb. 27, Treasury’s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network said it would not take enforcement actions against companies that do not file beneficial ownership data with the agency.

Business leaders cite privacy and security concerns about the database and say it is duplicitous to other government agencies that maintain corporate databases.

“This is a victory for common sense,” said U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Sunday. “Today’s action is part of President Trump’s bold agenda to unleash American prosperity by reining in burdensome regulations, in particular for small businesses that are the backbone of the American economy.”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ Dave Roberts shifted perceptions with legacy-defining October

• March 3, 2025

GLENDALE, Ariz. — ‘Sliding doors’ is a concept (popularized by the 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow movie of that name) that posits seemingly mundane moments can be pivotal, changing the course of a person’s life.

There was nothing mundane about it – unless you consider that Dave Roberts has now managed 100 postseason games, more than any active manager and more than all but four managers in MLB history (Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Dusty Baker). But Game 4 of last year’s National League Division Series between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres could have been a sliding doors moment for Roberts.

The Dodgers were on the brink of elimination, trailing two games to one in the best-of-five series. A loss that night would have sent the Dodgers home, first-round failures for the third year in a row. The glaring disparity between regular-season success and postseason disappointment would have turned the heat up on everyone in the Dodgers’ organization.

Managers always seem to be seated closest to the flame.

“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about that in the moment or even entering the series,” Roberts said this spring, acknowledging that he does believe in the existence of pivotal ‘sliding doors moments’ in life.

“I do think that if we didn’t win that game it would have become very noisy. A team that was obviously super-talented to lose three years in a row in the first round – albeit it takes all of us to win and lose – but I do think that calls for my job would have been heightened.”

The Dodgers didn’t lose Game 4. Roberts stitched together an eight-pitcher ‘bullpen game’ shutout and everything changed. The Dodgers lived to fight another day – and won the series in Game 5 (five pitchers combining on another shutout).

Roberts’ every pitching decision seemed to be the right one – even when the Dodgers essentially ‘punted’ on a game, marshalling their limited pitching resources for another game. Starting with NLDS Game 4, the Dodgers won 10 of their next 13 postseason games to win their long-awaited, full-season World Series championship. At one point along the way, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman described Roberts’ decision-making as “surgical.”

One door slid closed where Roberts would be sitting on a hot seat. Another opened on him dancing with Ice Cube.

“I did talk to my wife about it and we just kind of had that same type of conversation,” Roberts said of being aware how his job security would have been diminished by another first-round loss. “But I do have solace when I hear Andrew say things like, ‘Dave has always managed well in the postseason. He didn’t do anything different than in years when we didn’t win the World Series.’

“It’s interesting where you don’t win a series and you can feel that calls for your job come into play. But you win the World Series and now people are saying you’re going to Cooperstown.”

At least one person didn’t wait for the Dodgers to vanquish the New York Yankees to make that prophecy. During an interview on MLB Network in December, Roberts said Kiké Hernandez told him before Game 1 of the World Series, “After this series, you’re going to the Hall of Fame.”

Sliding doors have delivered Roberts from the days when he was blamed for the Dodgers’ every playoff failure, his pitching decisions dissected and found wanting to a new reality where Roberts is measured against other Hall of Fame managers – and not found wanting.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is headed to the Hall of Fame. Among active managers only he and Roberts have won multiple World Series championships (four for Bochy, two for Roberts). They are tied for the most postseason appearances among active managers with nine. Bochy’s have come in 27 seasons. Roberts has led his team to the postseason in each of his nine seasons as an MLB manager.

Bochy has just one more postseason victory than Roberts (57-56). Twenty-six managers in MLB history have, like Roberts now, won multiple World Series. Fifteen of those are in the Hall of Fame. Three more (Roberts, Bochy and Terry Francona) are still active.

“It’s certainly a compliment. But I have a lot more managing left to do,” Roberts said. “So I don’t really pay too much attention to it.”

It’s more than a compliment – it’s leverage.

Fresh off the 2024 World Series title, Roberts enters 2025 in the final year of his contract. Negotiations for an extension are underway with an agreement almost certain to be reached at some point.

Neither Bochy nor Roberts is currently the highest-paid manager in MLB. That distinction belongs to Craig Counsell, who was lured from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Chicago Cubs before last season with a five-year, $40 million contract.

“It was just a consequence of how it played out (not something he targeted),” Counsell said of becoming the highest-paid manager.

“Look, that’s how salaries work, jobs,” Counsell said, pointing out how the highest salary among players seems to change hands every year or two.

“It’s no different (for managers).”

Counsell led the Brewers to the postseason five times in his nine seasons as their manager. But he won a postseason series just once, reaching the NLCS against the Dodgers in 2018.

Counsell acknowledges that his own salary “should” help the more accomplished Roberts get even more from the Dodgers.

Roberts chooses his words carefully when asked bluntly if he believes he deserves to be the highest-paid manager based on his record in leading the Dodgers.

“That’s a hard question,” he said. “I just think it all comes down to value. And I think whatever anyone does, they want their value. That’s kind of where I’m at. I’m hopeful things get done.

“But it’s not (a goal) to be the highest-paid manager. If that’s the fallout, fine. But that’s not why I do my job. I do my job because I love baseball, I love the Dodgers and I love the players. But I do feel the body of work is pretty dang good.”

In the post-Moneyball age, managers are valued differently than the days when Tommy Lasorda, Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre and the like were the faces and driving forces of their franchises.

“There’s more to the job than I think people realize” in the modern game, Roberts said, and “industry-wide” managers might not be valued appropriately. The flow of information is greater, the attention – and demands – of the media on a manager far greater than in the days when the job was largely defined by when to put on the hit-and-run or when to leave the hotel bar.

Can money equal respect then?

“Not in all ways. But in some ways,” Roberts said. “I feel better about the word value.”

​ Orange County Register