Clayton Kershaw hits free agency from time to time, but he never really HITS free agency.
The career Dodger’s decisions after a season tend to come down to whether he wants to keep pitching, and how much the Dodgers will pay him for another season. This year, there was at least a MILD question about whether he would consider heading down to his home in Texas to pitch for the Rangers, but it was always hard to see him actually leaving.
Thus, he won’t be leaving LA:
Because Kershaw wasn’t REALLY in the market, his re-signing with the Dodgers is not a huge needle-mover for other teams and players. If he had gone to the Rangers, maybe there was a slightly reduced chance that they would ball out for Jacob deGrom or Carlos Rodon, as they are expected to. But I’m not sure how much impact there would have been, in reality.
Mostly, the story here is just the obvious: one of the best to ever do it is coming back for another season with the only team he’s ever known. And if he’s healthy, I would expect Kershaw to keep on being productive next season at 35.