Dave Roberts and the Los Angeles Dodgers are closing in on a long-term extension, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.

Roberts and the Dodgers have been in serious talks on a new deal since around the start of February. Despite being far apart in some stretches along the way, the two sides are expected to lock in a new deal before the Dodgers leave for Japan, where they will open their season, next Wednesday.

The largest contract among managers currently belongs to Craig Counsell, who signed a five-year, $40 million deal when he left the Milwaukee Brewers for the Chicago Cubs in November 2023. Roberts' new deal has been widely expected throughout the industry to top Counsell's in either total value or average annual value, if not both, though terms of his potential new deal are not yet known.

Roberts, 52, is heading into his 10th season with the Dodgers, which is also the final season of his contract. His deal would come on the heels of his second World Series championship in five years, including a title at the end of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

During that time, Roberts had also led the Dodgers to four National League pennants, eight division titles and a .627 regular-season winning percentage, the highest ever for someone who has managed at least 250 games.

The New York Post was first to report the news on Roberts' extension.

A cult hero in Boston for the stolen base that helped trigger an unprecedented comeback in the 2004 American League Championship Series, Roberts carved out a 10-year career as a major league outfielder, then later spent five years on the San Diego Padres' coaching staff. The Dodgers hired Roberts to replace Don Mattingly in November 2015, making him the franchise's first minority manager.

Since then, they have won 907 regular-season and postseason games. Only the Houston Astros (862) and the New York Yankees (807) have even surpassed 800.

From 2017 to 2023, the Dodgers won at least 100 regular-season games in five of six full seasons; they finished the 60-game 2020 campaign with a .717 winning percentage. The only year the Dodgers have not won the NL West under Roberts, they finished with 106 victories in 2021 -- one fewer than a San Francisco Giants team they later eliminated in the playoffs. And yet Roberts has only one Manager of the Year Award to his name, a sign of the harsh realities of his job.

For years, the Dodgers' triumphs have been widely credited to an ownership group with deep pockets and a baseball-operations department that is among the most astute in the industry. Roberts, meanwhile, had been left to shoulder the blame for continual postseason disappointments. That was never more true than in 2019, when another 106-win Dodgers team lost in the NL Division Series to the Washington Nationals after Roberts rode Clayton Kershaw a little too long in the decisive Game 5.

But Roberts went on manage the Dodgers through an unorthodox 2020 postseason that was staged in a bubble and did not include any days off within series, at the very least buying himself more time. More October disappointment followed thereafter. The Dodgers were outlasted by the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS in 2021, then were defeated by inferior division rivals in the NLDS in 2022 and 2023, first the Padres and then the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A similar fate seemed to await the Dodgers in 2024. They found themselves a game away from elimination by the Padres in the NLDS, having to win in San Diego to keep their season afloat. A third consecutive early exit, immediately following a first-round bye, would have probably cost Roberts his job. But he managed through a bullpen game in Game 4, then rode more dominant pitching in Game 5 to advance. The Dodgers then breezed past the New York Mets and Yankees to secure their first full-season championship since 1988.

The 2024 season ultimately highlighted Roberts' best traits. His even-keel demeanor helped the team navigate the betting scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, early in the year. His trademark positivity kept the team's spirits high when injuries plagued star players such as Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow throughout the summer. And in the fall, while dealing with an extremely compromised starting rotation, Roberts seemed to press all the right buttons.

He navigated through bullpen games on four occasions, most notably to save the season against the Padres and to win the pennant against the Mets. And in Game 5 of the World Series, when starting pitcher Jack Flaherty didn't pitch past the second inning, Roberts rode a beleaguered group of relief pitchers while the Dodgers made a spirited comeback and entrusted another starter, Walker Buehler, to record the final three outs.

With the win, Roberts stood alongside Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda as the only Dodgers managers to win multiple rings. It more than likely secured his place in the Hall of Fame. But what he was most proud of was that the trust he had always extended to his players had been reciprocated.

"That's everything," Roberts told ESPN shortly after securing the championship. "I believe in them. And this is the first team that I felt really like the trust went both ways. And that regardless of whatever decision I made, they were going to support me 100 percent."