Delusional Dodgers have the nerve to tell media they're underdogs against Mets

If there's one thing we've learned this postseason, it's that Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has a ... well, let's just say convenient interpretation of the facts. First, the skipper tried to convince everyone that Manny Machado tossing a warm-up ball back to the Dodger dugout was akin to an act of war, then he claimed that it was the San Diego Padres who were in fact the villains of their NLDS series against L.A. — despite the fact that the Padres were the only team having debris thrown at them from the stands.

If you thought that sort of spin might fall by the wayside with the Dodgers moving on the NLCS, however, you've got another thing coming. Roberts is far from done mining for any possible source of motivation for his team, and his latest whopper may be his biggest yet.

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Dave Roberts somehow thinks the Dodgers are underdogs in the NLCS

No, you're not seeing things. In an interview with USA Today's Bob Nightengale ahead of Game 1 against the New York Mets, Roberts was asked about not being satisfied following L.A.'s emotional win over the Dodgers and the challenges that New York would present in a seven-game series. But his answer went way, way beyond that.

“I do feel that our guys kind of can feel everyone picking everyone against us, and us being sort of an afterthought," Roberts said. "I think we have a pretty good ballclub. So guys took it, rightfully so, personally. I think we have a very talented team, but I still don't mind that kind of underdog, fighter mentality.’’

It's not every day that you see the words "Dodgers" and "underdogs" in the same sentence, so we have to give Roberts his due there. Beyond that, though: Come on, Dave. It's one thing to say that Los Angeles has overcome adversity this season; the team has weathered a seemingly endless string of injuries to its pitching staff, plus Freddie Freeman's ankle sprain. It's fair to say that the Dodgers are under the radar a little bit, given just how much oxygen the New York Mets' magical postseason ride has taken up of late.

But the idea that the Los Angeles Dodgers — the team with a $240 million payroll, the team that could afford to acquire the salaries of not one but two MVPs, the team that just dropped a cool billion dollars in salary this past offseason — can be considered underdogs stretches the term past all meaning. Especially consering who L.A. is about to go up against: Sure, the Mets technically have a higher payroll than the Dodgers, but much of that salary is tied up in players (specifically Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander) who are being paid not to play for New York. The Mets lost out to the Dodgers for both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency, instead pivoting to names like Tyrone Taylor, Luis Severino and Sean Manaea. There are stars here, no doubt, but for the most part this postseason run has been driven by an island of misfit toys pulling impossible moments out of nowhere.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, still have Ohtani, and Freeman, and Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernandez, and Max Muncy, and Will Smith, and on and on. They are, in other words, a very good and talented baseball team, just like they're paid to be. Roberts is paid to get the most out of his team, and it's clear that the clubhouse is loving this line of thinking. Don't expect the rest of us to buy it, though.