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Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts wants to coach the United States Olympic team.
Dave Roberts made his aspirations clear this week: he wants to manage Team USA baseball at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I aspire to manage the Olympic team. That’s my goal,” the back-to-back World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers manager told reporters, per the New York Post. “In L.A., I want to lead that team. No one is more fitting for that than I am.”
There’s logic to the pitch. Roberts manages the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, where the 2028 Olympic baseball tournament will be held, according to LA28 Olympic organizers.
He’s a UCLA alumnus, giving him deep LA ties. He’s won more games than almost any manager in modern baseball history. And he represented Team USA at the 1999 Pan American Games as a player, according to the New York Post.
Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts Wants to Coach United States Olympic Team
There’s a massive obstacle Roberts isn’t explicitly addressing: MLB players might not even be allowed to compete in 2028 yet, according to multiple reporting outlets tracking the negotiations.
That agreement hasn’t been finalized. And without it, his entire Olympic ambition sits in limbo.
Olympic baseball is coming to Dodger Stadium in 2028.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has voiced his interest in managing Team USA in his home ballpark.
Commissioner Rob Manfred is “increasingly confident” that an agreement will be reached allowing MLB players to participate in the 2028 Olympics. The players’ union wants it, per Baseball America and NBC News. The players want it. Shohei Ohtani has already made clear he’d like to compete for Japan, according to Sports Illustrated.
But “increasingly confident” isn’t the same as done.
MLB, the players’ union (MLBPA), and LA28 Olympic organizers still need to finalize a trilateral agreement, according to Baseball America and NBC News. For decades, the Olympics didn’t allow active professional baseball players—it was an amateur-only competition. Players’ unions from Japan, South Korea, and other nations regularly paused their seasons to send elite talent to the Olympics. MLB, protecting its season, refused.
This all changed when LA28 cleared a major hurdle in November 2025, according to the LA Times. Olympic organizers moved the baseball tournament to July 13-19, keeping the All-Star Game on July 11 and allowing the MLB regular season to resume July 22, per LA Times reporting. That gave baseball breathing room it never had before.
“It is feasible,” Manfred said, per NBC News, “to hold the All-Star Game as planned, then implement a longer single break while still managing to complete 162 games without extending into mid-November.”
Translation: There’s now a schedule window. The infrastructure exists. All that’s left is the three parties agreeing.
Can Dodgers’ Roberts Coach The United States Olympic Team?
There’s another complication Roberts isn’t addressing: Olympic rules for coaches haven’t been officially released for 2028 yet. While USA Baseball’s 2021 procedures allowed coaches with MLB approval, per official selection documents, no specific 2028 coaching eligibility standards have been announced.
The 2021 Tokyo rules required coaches to have “approval of Major League Baseball,” but that was written before any agreement existed for MLB players to participate. Now that the landscape is changing, the coach eligibility rules may too. NBA coaches participate in Olympics. NHL coaches participate. WNBA coaches participate. But baseball has never had this specific situation: active MLB players potentially competing while their own managers apply for Olympic coaching spots.
If MLB players are finally cleared for 2028, the logical extension is that coaches participate too. But “logical” and “officially confirmed” are two different things. Roberts is announcing a goal before one of the foundational details has been settled.
Justin Carlucci brings 13+ years of journalism experience to Heavy. A veteran of multiple industry-leading companies, he has hosted SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio shows and contributed to the New York Post, combining traditional sports and news reporting with expertise in sports betting and fantasy sports. More about Justin Carlucci
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