It was one of the topics of our latest Lukewarm Stove and now it’s come to fruition: Clayton Kershaw is re-signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for another season.
Free-agent left-hander Clayton Kershaw is in agreement with the Dodgers on a one-year deal, pending a physical, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 11, 2022
There aren’t any details out yet (I’ll update when I see them), but this was a long-expected outcome. And a good idea for both sides.
Kershaw, soon-to-be-34, may be well past his prime (and increasingly dealing with injury issues), but he’s still been a very effective pitcher when he has been on the mound. And so with this one-year deal, he’ll come back to the Dodgers for his 15th big league season in Los Angeles. That’s a really impressive career. I especially like that one game against Kyle Hendricks in October of 2016.
According to Rosenthal, Kershaw, who missed the 2021 postseason with an elbow injury, is healthy, but just slightly behind where he’d normally be at this point in the spring.
This move has very little impact on the rest of the pitching market, as Kershaw was widely expected to go back to the Dodgers. Last season, Kershaw made 22 starts (121.2 IP) with a 3.55 ERA.
Update: Not insignificant money, either
Kershaw gets $17M plus incentives on Dodgers deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 11, 2022