Dave Roberts has had dozens, if not hundreds, of conversations like the one he had with Jason Heyward on Wednesday night, when the Dodgers manager has to inform a player there is no longer room on the roster for him and that he’s being designated for assignment.
But this one cut much deeper because it was with one of the most respected and well-liked players on the team, the best friend of first baseman Freddie Freeman, and the winner of the 2023 Roy Campanella Award, which is given annually to the Dodgers player who best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the Hall-of-Fame catcher.
“It was very challenging, probably one of the tougher things I’ve had to do,” Roberts said before Friday night’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. “What Jason did for the Dodgers in a year and a half was pretty remarkable, on the field, in the clubhouse, in the community, and his fingerprint will be everlasting.
“It was a very difficult decision, but we had a roster crunch. Guys finally came back to health, and we only have so much room.”
The decision was not made any easier by the fact that in his last at-bat in a Dodgers uniform, Heyward hammered a tiebreaking, pinch-hit three-run home run in the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
But with Chris Taylor fully recovered from a right groin strain that sidelined the veteran utility man for a month, the Dodgers had to decide which players among four-time Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, versatile utility man utility man Kiké Hernández, Taylor and Heyward would fill three bench spots.
