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Dodgers Name Dave Roberts Manager; McGwire Moving On

The Dodgers have named Dave Roberts as their new manager. The club made the announcement Monday morning in Los Angeles. Roberts had been a finalist for the job along with Dodgers Director of Player Development Gabe Kapler.

Roberts, 43 and a UCLA product, spent parts of the 10 seasons as an outfielder in the major leagues. He spent 2003 and part of 2004 with the Dodgers. Over the course of his career, Roberts established himself as a skilled defender and elite base-runner.

 width=Since retiring as a player, Roberts has worked as an analyst, coach, and front-office exec. In 2014-15, he served as bench coach for the Padres.

Roberts becomes the 32nd manager in franchise history and, as Ken Rosenthal notes, the first minority manager in Dodgers history.

After being eliminated in the NLDS round of the 2015 playoffs, the Dodgers, with a new, analytics-driven front office that may not have seen eye to eye with Don Mattingly, parted ways with Mattingly despite his leading the team to five straight winning seasons and three straight NL West titles.

Mattingly has since become manager of the Marlins.

>>Mark McGwire Takes Bench Coach Job With Padres

Mark McGwire, the slugger who served as hitting coach the last six years with the Cardinals and then the Dodgers, is expected to be named bench coach for the Padres.

Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune recently reported McGwire was a strong candidate for the job.

McGwire brings extra experience to the staff of rookie Padres manager Andy Green.

McGwire, respected as hitting coach, takes the place of Dave Roberts, who left to become Dodgers manager. So McGwire and Roberts effectively traded teams, though in different roles.

McGwire was well-liked for work in St. Louis, where he served for three years as hitting coach with his former team. McGwire, a Southern California native who starred at USC, also worked for three years with the Dodgers.

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