Dave Roberts brushed off a jab from San Diego Padres owner José E. Feliciano with a line that landed fast: he likes the Dodgers’ “dinosaurs.” Speaking before the opening game of the team’s MLB postseason series against the Atlanta Braves, Roberts said on AM 570, “I guess from what I heard, we have some dinosaurs,” then added, “But I like our dinosaurs, and our dinosaurs have come through in the biggest spots.”
The exchange is drawing attention now because the Dodgers are trying to begin a run toward a third straight MLB championship title, and the timing puts every word in a sharper light. Roberts was answering Feliciano after the Padres owner said Dodgers owner Mark Walter “owns a lot of dinosaurs,” a remark some people took as a dig at the age of the Los Angeles roster.
That reading made the line sound sharper than it was. The piece says Feliciano was actually referring to Walter’s dinosaur fossil collection, not the players on the field. Even so, the comment gave the Dodgers-Padres rivalry a postseason edge before a pitch was thrown, and Roberts turned it into a defense of his group rather than a complaint.
He did more than bat away the joke. Roberts said he felt good about Tarik Skubal taking the baseball in Game 1 and said the Dodgers were not ready to say who would start Games 2 and 3. He added that the team had gotten its work in and came out healthy, which is the kind of line that matters when a series is just starting and usage plans are still being sorted out.
That leaves the larger backdrop in place: the Dodgers and Padres could see each other again later in the fall if both advance to the National League Championship Series. For now, Roberts has made his side of the argument simple. If the conversation is about age, he is betting on experience, and he is betting the players he called his dinosaurs will keep showing up when the biggest spots arrive.
