The last thing you want to give your arch-rival is bulletin board material ahead of a season-long battle.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts might have just done that, proclaiming that his team will win the World Series this season.
“We will win the World Series in 2022,” Roberts said on the Dan Patrick Show on March 24. “We’ll win the World Series this year. Put it on record. … We are winning the World Series. That’s our focus, that’s our goal.”
Of course, Roberts’ belief in his team is not surprising, nor should it be. The Dodgers (on paper) have one of, if not the best rosters in all of baseball.
The Giants, of course, will continue to be coy when asked about Roberts’ bold guarantee, even if it’s already on the minds of every player in the locker room.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford sat down with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Giants host Laura Britt at spring training and responded to the viral soundbite from the manager of the team’s biggest rival.
“He probably thought that last year too,” Crawford said. “A manager saying that out loud in a public interview is a little surprising, but I think every manager with a good team thinks that going into any spring. Baseball’s such a long season, you never know what’s going to happen. I’m not going to sit here and say that we are going to win the World Series, but that is our goal at the end of the year.”
Without a doubt, the goal of each and every championship-caliber team is to win the World Series. As it should be. That’s not surprising.
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What’s surprising is publicly guaranteeing a championship victory.
The Giants don’t need any extra motivation, they have plenty of that already. A little extra bulletin board material couldn’t hurt, though.
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Read More: Giants' Brandon Crawford surprised by Dave Roberts' Dodgers promise