GLENDALE, Ariz. – As he drove to Arizona for the start of spring training, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts listened to a book on tape – “No Time for Spectators” by Martin Dempsey, a former general and past chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The book is built around the lessons Dempsey says he learned throughout his long military career, particularly those dealing with leadership. It’s a topic about which Roberts frequently reads – and it was an appropriate topic for this year’s Dodgers.
For the first time since Roberts became manager in 2016, there is no clear team leader in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Justin Turner left for Boston in free agency this winter and the group that reported to Camelback Ranch this spring has a different dynamic with its highest-paid players (Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman) having been raised in other organizations, the longest-tenured position player (Austin Barnes) a backup catcher, and young players sprinkled throughout.
“When you don’t see No. 10 walking through, it’s a little weird for these guys. I can only imagine,” Freeman said of Turner’s departure.
“I love JT. He was definitely a voice for a lot of people. He was approachable and stuff like that,” Barnes agreed. “Yeah, it’ll be hard, but we’ll figure it out. We’ll adapt and figure out who we are as a team.”
Before they can figure out who the leaders are, they might have to identify what they need from a leader.
“Is a team leader the person who is going to be the voice for the media after every game? So the perception is he’s leading the club?” Roberts said. “Or is the team leader going to be the person who is going to hold a meeting when a meeting might need to be called? Or is a team leader a person who does everything the right way so people follow him?”
Clayton Kershaw says it’s “a good question” what a team leader needs to be.
““I think for me it’s just by example,” he said. “That’s how you do it, how you perform day in and day out. We have a lot of guys who do that. Then as far as the vocal part of it, I think we all look to somebody to speak at different times, whether it be the few clubhouse meetings we have, the few team meetings we have. Even stuff away from the field. Getting guys together to go to dinner. Whatever that is. JT was a lot of that. JT did a lot of that and JT was really good at doing all of that.
“It might not be a one-for-one situation (to fill Turner’s role), but I think collectively we all have to do that – because it’s important. It’s important not to just show up at the field, play and go home. I think there’s some other parts of it. I think we’re all going to just have to pick it up.”
Kershaw looms large in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. But he acknowledged it’s difficult for a starting pitcher who plays just once every five days to be the team’s leader.
Nonetheless, he is one of the names Freeman brings up as capable of filling any void left behind by Turner.
““Obviously leadership is gonna be a big question this year at the beginning because Justin’s gone,” Freeman said. “But anybody who was gonna come in here and say, ‘I’m going to be a leader,’ everyone else is going to eye-roll you when you do that. It’s going to happen organically.
“It could be me. It could be Mookie. It could be Clayton. It could be Gavin Lux. You never know what it could be like and that just happens when you create an environment in the clubhouse where everyone feels comfortable and be able to do what they want to do.
“To me … everybody should be a leader in their own right. So, if it was gonna be like, Mookie’s gonna do it – to put that pressure on someone, it just needs to happen organically. I don’t think Justin came in here and said he was going to be a leader in 2014. It just happens, you know? So, if we’re going to stand up here and say, ‘I’m going to do it, you’re going to do it.’ That’s just not usually how it works.”
Roberts said he has spoken to Betts and Freeman about being more forward in leadership roles and started pushing them in that direction – an “easy nudging,” he said.
In his first spring with the Dodgers, Betts stood up during the first full-squad meeting and challenged the team to maintain a high level of effort every day through the long season. Now in his fourth season with the Dodgers, Betts said leadership is “not a concern of mine” with this year’s team.
“I just kind of read the situation,” he said. “I’m not here to try and be the leader, try and do this, try and do that. Whatever the situation calls for, you just be ready for it. That’s kind of what I do.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said “it’s difficult to put into words how much JT has meant to this organization, on and off the field.” But he said the team has “a really strong group” ready to fill any void.
“I think the Mookie-and-Freddie dynamic from last year and them stepping forward,” Friedman said. “I think JD (Martinez) will take on a lot of that. Chris Taylor, I think Will Smith is coming into his own. We have a lot of guys that have been around and have been a part of a lot of winning baseball, and not only have a good feel for our culture and the things that have helped make us successful, but have ideas on how to enhance it.”
Freeman said he expects “the leadership question is gonna fade really fast” as this year’s team finds its identity. Betts already thinks the discussion is being overblown by the media.
“Probably,” he said when asked. “That’s OK, though. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
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