Dodgers manager Roberts faces joy — and pain — of juggling Chapman, Jansen

NASHVILLE — The Los Angeles Dodgers won’t wait around to put rookie manager Dave Roberts to the test.

Barring another trade, it would be up to Roberts and his considerable interpersonal skills to get the established closers to share the late-inning duties.Their pending acquisition of four-time All-Star Aroldis Chapman, in a widely reported deal with the Cincinnati Reds that has yet to be announced, would give the Dodgers two of the game’s top strikeout artists in the same bullpen, a scary combination of the lefty fireballer with incumbent right-hander Kenley Jansen.

The pairing has the potential of rendering late-game leads virtually unassailable, the same way the Kansas City Royals’ formidable bullpen squelched opponents’ comeback hopes on the way to World Series appearances in each of the last two years.

Chapman, who has an 89% save-conversion rate for his career, led the majors with 15.74 strikeouts per nine innings (50 innings pitched minimum) last season. Jansen, who cashed in on 36 of 38 save opportunities, was fourth at 13.76.

There won’t be much risk of a defensive misplay costing the Dodgers a lead with either of them on the mound.

“When you have the threat of lockdown seventh-, eighth-, ninth-inning guys and have the ability to shorten the game, it puts a lot of pressure on the opposition,” Roberts said during Monday’s gathering with news reporters at the winter meetings. “It’s tough to manage against teams that can shorten the game like that.”

And it might prove nearly as tough to decide how to apportion the load and get the pitchers to buy into the plan, especially considering the financial ramifications involved.

Chapman and Jansen will both be 28 when the season starts, and both will be eligible for free agency for the first time when it ends. Though Chapman earned a little more than $8 million last year and Jansen $7.4 million, neither has cashed in on the bonanza available in a market that rewards a 33-year-old setup man such as Darren O’Day with a four-year, $31 million contract.

Next offseason will be their chance, and elite closers come armed with much more negotiating leverage than even the top setup men. The Dodgers would have spring training to soothe any raw feelings, but the situation clearly would have the potential to create divisiveness, especially with both pitchers relishing the closer role.

When the Washington Nationals brought in Jonathan Papelbon to take the place of highly effective closer Drew Storen in late July, the toxic effects of that mix helped sink the club into a distant runner-up finish and might have contributed to the confrontation with Bryce Harper that got Papelbon suspended for the final four games of the season.

The Royals, on the other hand, made it work, with Wade Davis biding his time as a setup man and stepping in midway through last season when closer Greg Holland was hurt. One key difference is Davis was promoted to take over for an injured teammate, not to replace or share the job with a healthy, effective closer.

“I think it’s just managing things,” Roberts said of that scenario. “Again, this is all hypothetical. We don’t know. May be a pleasant problem, so we’ll see what happens.”

Roberts could go with matchups, a tantalizing concept considering lefty hitters have a .120 career average and .384 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) against Chapman, with one homer in 291 at-bats. Righties have hit .150 with a .478 OPS vs. Jansen.

Then again, both have also dominated batters from the opposite side of the plate, so they’re hardly situational pitchers.

The Dodgers’ quick response to losing the Zack Greinke sweepstakes — they also agreed to terms with veteran starter Hisashi Iwakuma on a three-year, $45 million deal — points to a change in how their pitching staff operates. They went 43-22 last season in games started by Greinke or Clayton Kershaw, but 49-48 when anybody else started.

Instead of such a top-heavy approach, Dodgers management seems to be aiming for more spread-out contributions from the starters and providing extra support toward that goal with a dynamic closer duo.

It’s an intriguing concept and one that will challenge Roberts’ managerial skills right away.

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