The Dodgers made the surprising decision not to issue a qualifying offer to Clayton Kershaw before Sunday afternoon’s deadline. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic (Twitter link) this evening that call was not any sort of indication the team wants to move forward without the three-time Cy Young award winner.
“We’ve made it very clear that if Kersh wants to come back, he will always have a spot with what he’s meant to this organization — not just looking back but with what we think he can do for us next year,” Friedman said. “I know (Kershaw) wants to take a little time with (his wife) Ellen and figure out what’s best for them and also more importantly, get to a point where he feels good health wise. We have no reason to believe that he won’t.”
As for why the Dodgers declined to issue Kershaw a qualifying offer if they were open to him returning in 2022, Friedman implied it was an appreciative gesture on the organization’s part. “I think just with our respect for him and for what he’s done for this organization, that wasn’t something that we wanted to do and put him on that kind of clock when he wasn’t ready for it,” Friedman told Ardaya.
Players tagged with a qualifying offer have until November 17 to decide whether to accept the offer or reject it to explore the free agent market. With Kershaw’s apparent desire to spend some time with his family and continue to rehab the elbow injury that ended his season prematurely, the Dodgers determined not to put an artificial clock on his decision-making process.
There’s no questioning Kershaw’s status as a franchise icon. He’s won five ERA titles and an MVP award over his illustrious career, and he’ll one day wind up in the Hall of Fame wearing a Dodger cap. As Friedman suggested, Kershaw’s still capable of being highly productive, even if his days as the game’s best pitcher are probably behind him. Over 121 2/3 innings, the 33-year-old worked to a 3.55 ERA this past season. That kind of production would upgrade any team’s rotation, so it’s easy to understand the Dodgers’ openness to bringing Kershaw back even before considering his legacy.
Wait. Seriously? I’ve heard people jokingly suggest that a team decline to QO a player as a showing of goodwill before but the Dodgers just did it unironically? Potentially just swatted a free draft pick to the ground? I thought Friedman was smarter than that.
You obviously don’t understand the relationship the front office has with Kersh. Sounds pretty transparent to me.
Yee-up, @puig.
Pitchers are like sales guys. Good one’s are invaluable. Give those guys their space & your respect. I like this. I doubt it’s a rosy as the press release sounds (but, hell, it might be) but the Dodgers are simply acknowledging his contributions while giving him his space.
Good management, IMO.
“Pitchers are like sales guys.”
I see what you did there.
Good sales pitch.
Lies. Friedman wasn’t comfortable paying Kershaw over $18M next season with his health being in question. If Kershaw were healthy he would have done it. Nice spin though. Make everyone think he was doing Kershaw a favor by refusing to offer him a contract no one else would offer him right now either. If they were really looking out for Kershaw they would have offered it so he could rebuild his value after the injury and taken the loss if he couldn’t. Friedman did this because he doesn’t believe Kershaw will be fully healthy for all of next season. That’s the bottom line.
Eee Gads…….
Don’t you just hate it when people you don’t know do things in a way you don’t approve of?
He’s paid him over 200 million. 18.4 more is nothing.
I’m glad we have Friedman’s mind reader in chat. Maybe use your psychokinetic powers for good instead of whatever this is.
Missed WAR has the most asinine hot takes.
Kershaw is so well respected as a man, a citizen and a ballplayer and means so much to who the Dodgers are as a franchise in baseball and humanitarian terms that they would give him 18.whatever million in a heart beat just out of goodwill alone.
He’s right though. It’s only goodwill if he thinks it’ll hurt his leverage with other teams in FA having a QO stuck to him. If he wants more time to think about it he could just decline and resign later.
@elcaballo And if he wants to explore other options then why should the Dodgers make a “goodwill” move?
@LetthereBeLux: I didn’t realize you knew Clayton Kershaw personally so well. We didn’t realize he was such a great ballplayer, citizen, humanitarian, God, second coming of Christ, Mohamed and Moses all at the same time. Why don’t you stop slurring your speech and get his balls out of your mouth? Or do you just want to suck the nutrients out of his strained forearm and pretend it’s going to bring you health? He’s an injured baseball player. That’s all. Whether you think he’s a good dude or not stop pretending he’s Mother Teresa. I love the sport of baseball but this idolization is sickening and down right sad.
@LetThereBeLux get outta here with that nonsense this is a business first and foremost and to suggest that the Dodgers would pay Kershaw like he’s an ace again is what’s asinine. When was the last time Kershaw pitched a full season? Hell beside last years pretend title when was the last time Kershaw looked good in the playoffs? The Dodgers have a bunch of cash for sure but that doesn’t mean they can just throw a bunch of it at a guy who’s a model citizen just because. Let’s all get together around the camp fire and hold hands singing Kumbaya My Lord. Nothing any MLB GM does isn’t calculated and thought out and they all have ulterior motives.
That’s what make it’s goodwill. If you only show goodwill in scenarios that will benefit you, then it isn’t goodwill.
Wow The Mets…dial it back a little
@puigpower Well if their “relationship” is so great Kersh better take at least a 40% discount to stay in LA.
@Remove….yes Kershaw should take at least a 40% discount because you claim it’s the only way to show loyalty to an organization. The kids and low level thinkers on the comment boards just keep coming up with new ways to appear idiotic.
@Remove Friedman’s statements sounds pretty sincere. Perhaps Kershaw is thinking about taking a year off or even retiring. I find it refreshing for the Dodgers to extend him a goodwill gesture in today’s cutthroat business environment.
@YankeesBleacherCreature You got any documented cases of a “goodwill gesture” or whatever providing any tangible benefit to a team?
@paddyo875 Well you clearly do lol
@Remove Seriously? Look all the way back to last season and the Dodgers throwing Pujols a lifeline. Tangible benefits up the wazoo.
Think before you hit “Post Comment” next time…
@empirejim I don’t see how the Pujols situation has anything to do with this. Maybe you should take your own advice fam.
No only are your takes bad, you just lost your last shred of accountability by using the word “fam”
*credibility
Not sure how using an expression affects one’s credibility or accountability, whichever it is, but ok.
You’re right fam, no cap.
I still don’t get it? Walk through the scenarios:
Kershaw gets tagged with a QO… not ready to decide yet. Simply turns it down. What harm/foul?
Are you saying that if he just turned it down now, you wouldn’t “honor” that same offer later? Wouldn’t that be even worse disrespect?
It’s spin.
I think reality came down to one of a couple of factors, maybe a mix.
1) LA isnt sure Kershaw will be healthy before the rule 4 draft. To tag him with a QO nets them nothing if he doesn’t sign elsewhere before then, and they think he won’t.
2) Given the health status, they don’t want to pay $18+m for a guy to rehab.
3)why have a guy who isn’t likely to open the season taking up a 40man spot over the offseason when he can’t be moved to the IL yet. Also why pay such a guy if you think a lockout is likely?
4) maybe there is some goodwill, but not how it’s spun currently. Maybe Friedman had a number in mind, but, he doesn’t want Kershaw feeling he got forced down to it. Let him think it over. Explore what a guy with his age and wear is worth under the current physical status on the unrestricted open market. Then circle back.
End of the day, when you’ve got a guy of Kershaw’s history and org status, you want to keep him close to the fold after retirement. Blend it all together and give up a 5th round pick in the process? Maybe it makes sense.
But it’s not just ‘thanks for playing with us, no QO.’
The Dodgers have had the best scouting in the history of sports. I think they’ll be fine without some compensatory draft pick. Quit crying and enjoy your team’s success.
@bucsfan0004…
1. I’m not even a Dodgers fan
2. Their great scouting is a perfect example of why it is stupid for them to swat a free draft pick to the ground. I can understand the Padres doing it because they won’t be able to develop that draft pick anyway but this is a potential future ROY they just missed out on if Kersh walks.
Since youre not a Dodgers fan, a lot of their finds have been outside the US Amateur draft.
@bucsfan0004 And a lot have been from the draft as well
Or he is BSing to save face with the pissyness of LA fans
It’s a really classy move, imo. I have to applaud them for it given Kershaw’s status with the franchise. Stuff like that goes a long way in free agent dealings, I’m sure.
“Classiness” and “goodwill” don’t win championships.
Like you would know.
“Stuff like that goes a long way in free agent dealings, I’m sure.”
Your proof?
@Remove- “Your proof?”
Yours’ it doesn’t? Can you show me where every player in the history of the game has 100% given no thought to how a franchise deals with players?
No?
Yeah, thought not.
Neither of us work in a MLB FO, so obviously neither of us can support our argument with proof. But just logically, if you’re signing a contract would you want to deal with someone who treats you fairly and with respect, or someone who doesn’t give two- well, you know the word- about you?
@Appalachian_Outlaw…
1. If you are arguing in favor of an intangible, the burden of proof is on you. Not I.
2. A hefty majority of free agents just go where the money is.
3. Extending a player a qualifying offer, a contractual procedure that was jointly agreed upon by the owners and the MLBPA, is affirmatively NOT treating a player unfairly or disrespecting him.
This is just one of many reasons why the Dodgers are respected as a first class organization once again (they were not during the McCourt years). And this is how teams should treat a franchise icon and humanitarian. Kudos to Friedman. Moves like this send the right signals to free agents That and lots of cash.
@dodgers32…
“This is just one of many reasons why the Dodgers are respected as a first class organization…”
LOL
“Moves like this send the right signals to free agents…”
No they don’t.
The problem with most of the posters here is that they think that everyone and everything is for sale, and players just go where the money is.
I explained that the A’s let Melvin go as a thank you gesture. That was met with incredulous nonsense comments about “why didn’t they get they get compensation”? (I also said the A’s cycle was complete and they were going into rebuild – today their GM used the word “cycle”).
It’s not that hard if one watches franchises over a period of time, and realizes that there are human beings involved and not computer algorithms using players stats to play animated games.
Another good example is the Cards trading Stephen Piscotty to the A’s when his mom was dying/died (don’t remember which).
@Samuel Well since Kershaw is a human being and not a computer algorithm I expect him to take at least a 40% discount to stay in LA.
@Remove That’s a weird hill to die on.
@YankeesBleacherCreature Not as weird as defending a team potentially swatting a free draft pick to the ground.
@Remove it seems like maybe you’reobsessed with the mediocre metaphor of “swatting a draft pick to the ground.”
Let go of the unimpressive metaphor and maybe you can see the issue with a more insightful perspective. Let go of the simplistic, cynical take.
@paddyo875 That’s exactly what they did. Why would I use any other metaphor?
If Kershaw pitches next season, it WILL be with the Dodgers.
Here’s also a quote from this past August from former teammate and one of his closest friends, AJ Ellis:
latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2021-08-26/while-…
@YankeesBleacherCreature How are my future great-great-grandkids doing since you have a crystal ball and everything?
@YankeeBleacher…I recall reading that article. I think there is a very small chance he opts for family first and signs with Texas. But losing sucks and I hope he opts to keep balancing family and career in LA for a few more.
When it comes to signing a contract , I think he may have the Larry Bird perspective, “ I hate losing more than I love winning.”
@Remove…another troll that makes one log onto the website to utilize that handy ignore option.
Few people know him better than AJ, so I’d take that to the bank. Kershaw was crushed when the Dodgers traded him away. From the article, for those who can’t be bothered to click:
—-
Ellis played nine years for the Dodgers, then finished his career with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Miami Marlins and the Padres. Kershaw has played 14 years with the Dodgers, and Ellis does not see Kershaw finishing his career anywhere else.
“No chance,” Ellis said. “He’s a one-uniform guy. He’s going to be a one-uniform guy with an amazing contingent at Cooperstown some day. It’s going to be pretty special for that to happen, and to see that No. 22 retired at Dodger Stadium, and to see a statue someday.”
——-
This is why the Dodgers were not afraid to risk a draft pick. None is realistically in play.
@BlueSkies_LA Ok, let’s come at this another way…
If they QO him, some teams won’t be willing to give up the draft pick at all and so that removes them from play. And those who are willing to give up a draft pick will certainly offer a bit less than they would if he didn’t cost a draft pick. Teams absolutely take those things into account. So QOing Kershaw makes it easier for them to sign Kershaw.
You don’t listen very well, do you?
Nor do you apparently. You’re the guy who affirmatively stated that they will be able to get Bauer to take a settlement to end his contract early and then threw out a bunch of “Oh so now we have spoken to a close personal friend who knows his most intimate thoughts” comments every time someone disagreed. And that Max Scherzer wouldn’t accept a trade without an extension.
Never said any such things. You are totally desperate now, just making up garbage. Probably half the posters on this board have already muted you. I gave you another chance, and that was it.
@BlueSkies_LA Oh really?
mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/max-scherzer-trade-rumo…
He’s not pitching for any team but the Dodgers. Spare me how he’s leaving a team that makes the playoff every year for a Rangers club that is out of contention by labor day. And the Dodgers are already getting draft picks if Seager or Taylor leave. Friedman doesn’t need to hoard every possible draft pick because he doesn’t trade them every year like Preller.
With as well as the Dodgers develop it’s all the more important for them to get every last draft pick.
Clayton Kershaw is not pitching for another team so there wasn’t a potential draft picks to miss out on. They just gave Andrew Heaney 8.5 million. You think they wouldn’t be able to work something out with the best pitcher in their history?
If he’s not leaving why did you say that the Dodgers “don’t need to hoard every possible draft pick?”
If I had to guess he stays in LA but it’s not guaranteed. And if he doesn’t then this was a royal screwup.
He’s not signing anywhere else. But also, don’t forget that baseball is a business, and part of that business involves having familiar players that the fans feel a connection to (teams even send out surveys so they know what players are popular). It makes sense to let him take his time, and hopefully come back since he’s an icon but also still a good pitcher. Fans get to see him treated well, which they also like.
Most fans will never even hear about this. But they will hear about if Kershaw signs elsewhere. So why not QO him so you get the extra draft pick in the event that that does happen? Like you said, baseball is a business.
@LetThereBeLux I did read the article. That doesn’t make him right. And plenty of teams have extended QO’s to their franchise icons in the past.
Nothing was swatted away. If Kershaw pitches in 2022, it will be as a Dodger. This is all about relationships here.
This does nothing for their relationship. You think the Braves QOing Freddie Freeman is going to hurt their relationship?
If Kershaw chooses to play next year 99.9999% it will be with the Dodgers.
Friedman should however answer for how high was he when he not only offered Andrew Heaney $8 million dollars but actually signed his name on the contract…
Sure, Andrew Friedman has to answer to your for his actions.
Do you work in the entitled, disrespecting, non-producing, manipulative, always enraged media?
If Heaney Ks 200 you will answer for your actions
Great move on Heaney. High upside and bet that Dodgers are able to make.
Little early to judge that signing, let’s see at the end of 2022
I trust Friedman 100%. His track record is pretty good.
Wow. Glad to see the Dodger apologists are out in full force
Heaney is a classic Dodgers signing, move that makes little sense for any other franchise that pays SPs with a projection to be in the rotation but helps give LAD the usual 8 arm stockpile they like to have. Rather than count on 5-6 guys and then scramble if things go wrong to multiple arms, the team overpays for a few upside veterans, counting on none of them but generally having enough arms at any given time to get the job done.
That only works for a franchise with payroll and money to burn, but it has been effective for them before. Like a poker player with a big chip pile, LAD can and should press its financial advantage, at times using it to brute force a leg up.
Met him and his wife through travel ball in 2013. Gonna be sad if he ends up leaving 🙁
Lol
Class move by the Dodgers. A far cry from O’Malley and subsequent ownership.
The O’Malleys had class. You are right about the ownership by Fox and then McCook, however. Neither of them had any business owning the Dodgers.
No they didn’t. Not with how they treated Koufax and Drysdale, how they moved out of Brooklyn, how they relocated the people who lived where their ballpark was, how they treated Autry or the Angels.
You are delusional or ignorant if you think they had class.
The city of Los Angeles ordered people out of that neighborhood years before the Dodgers moved in. It is a myth that the Dodgers did that. But people like to promote grievances. It sells books and gets attention.
What is with your hostility?
The Braves gave Freddie a QO. Smart move. It isn’t disrespectful. It’s an indication of how much they realize how vital he is.
It is. By applying a pick to the team that signs him means teams like Yankees, RedSox, Philadelphia, etc will not offer. So the Braves are looking for him to sign for less.
Yeah! By the logic of everyone commenting on this article Freddie Freeman is now guaranteed to not sign with the Braves because they “disrespected him.”
You might want to look up “logic” in the dictionary.
Remove, kershaw is injured and has said he wanted to take his time to make a decision long before the injury. That’s why no QO. Friedman said as much. Freeman is in a totally different situation. Only similarity is they are faces iof the franchise but both sit in very different seats as of today. You are repetitive in your assertions which are unthoughtful, provocative and hasty at best and lame brained at worst. Just listen to what other people have to say and don’t force your ridiculous narrative as the answer. Some teams are classy, and I guess that is hard to understand
@LetThereBeLux Oh so now the Braves aren’t classy? How about the White Sox QOing Jose Abreu 2 years ago? How about the Nationals QOing Bryce Harper the year before that? How about the Tigers QOing Max Scherzer back in 2014?
Think before you hit “post” bruh. The Dodgers had nothing to lose by QOing Kershaw.
There are very few players these days who are so well respected that their team will do something like this for him. Kershaw has given his all to the Dodgers organization and Friedman showed his appreciation by not offering the QO on him. I’m sure his recent injury did play a part in this decision; however, if Kershaw was healthy then the Dodgers would have already locked him up on a new contract. This decision allows Kershaw the chance to rehab without worrying about the QO decision or trying to find a multi-year commitment prior to 11/17. I’m sure LA will keep tabs on his progress and if he recovers from this injury, they will make him a fair offer with plenty of escalators built in for total innings pitched. If re-signs with LA and pitches 150+ innings in 2022, I’m sure his total comp for the season would be $20M+. If Kershaw doesn’t want to play under an incentive laden contract then LA gave him the option to look elsewhere with no strings attached. LA is going to end up with at least one compensatory pick for Seager and maybe a 2nd if Taylor leaves, but given that they exceeded the luxury tax, these picks won’t happen until after the end of Round 4, where it is much harder to find actual MLB prospects. So losing a 5th round pick for not offering a QO to Kershaw isn’t that big of a deal and it really makes the Dodgers front office look good from a player’s perspective.
They have no reason to “let him look elsewhere with no strings attached.” They don’t owe him anything and if he signs elsewhere they just swatted a free draft pick to the ground. No player is going to be inclined to sign there because they did that. If anything, they’ll be less inclined to sign there because Friedman basically just said “Hey, I’ve forgotten how this works.”
They owe him alot. He is a great citizen and an excellent representative for their team, franchise and community. Goodwill has value. Classy move. I don’t understand why you don’t understand respect
@LetThereBeLux…
“They owe him alot.”
No, they’ve already paid him more $ than everyone commenting here will ever combined will ever see in their lives.
“Goodwill has value.”
No it doesn’t.
“Classy move.”
“Class” doesn’t win championships. Good players do.
“I don’t understand why you don’t understand respect”
Guess the Braves don’t either seeing how they QO’d Freddie Freeman.
Wow. I am lucky I get to leave this conversation and never think about you and your hate ever again. Just chill out and recognize not everyone operates in the narrow mindset that you do. They did what they did, clearly the fans dont feel disrespected. Your narrative is pessimistic and shallow and from that vantage point than sure fine but there must be something you don’t know at play because it doesn’t fit your framework which either means the Dodgers front office is stupid or your framework is broken. Pretty sure it is the latter. Hope someone just once in your life shows you the respect and admiration that the Dodgers front office just showed kershaw. G night!
@LetThereBeLux…
I don’t have hate. You do. You are the one who is actively rooting for your team (if you are actually a Dodger fan and not just someone posing as one) to swat a free draft pick to the ground. And most fans will never actually know about any of this. But those that do will definitely feel disrespected if Kershaw doesn’t stay.
Dodgers front office is usually pretty smart but they aren’t perfect. This is one hiccup for them. Signing Trevor Bauer was another. Not extending Max Scherzer as part of his trade to LA was a third.
Lastly, why did you post your comment twice?
How do you know they didn’t try to extend Scherzer?
@ElysianPark what I’m saying is they should have made the trade contingent on an extension. Like what the Blue Jays did when they traded for R. A. Dickey. Or the Reds when they traded for Sonny Gray.
Wow. Intelligent. That’s good logic.
Nobody QOs Clayton
It’s actually quite simple. He isn’t worth $18.4m.
He’s got 7 more good years in him
Because #1, he knows how to pitch and knows how to pitch without velocity. #2, he’s a mega talent with a lot still left in the tank
A 115 ERA+ in 2021
In a sudden twist, the results of Clayton Kershaw’s first born son’s DNA test came back as half Andrew Friedman. This explains Charlie’s odd behavior such has his first word being “Petcota“ and only being able to fall asleep when he’s read “Fools Rush lnn” by Bill James.
Kershaw signs a one year $12M contract with the Texas Rangers, with the organization agreeing to Kershaw only pitching at home games as this is a “going no where season” for them, so as described by President of Baseball Ops, Jon Daniels. The $15M signing bonus greased the wheels for Kershaw lobbying MLB to go in as a Ranger.
Andrew Friedman could not be reached for comment.
Never thought I’d see the day that fans actually defend a team swatting a free draft pick to the ground because it’s “respectful”
I can’t belive you have lived a life where respect and doing the right thing are hard to understand
How is swatting a free draft pick to the ground doing the right thing? Is that very respectful to their fans?
How many times has @Remove had an opportunity to say something smart tonight?
Only to ‘swat it to the ground’
…Smh
Least you tried champ.
Dorothy has it correct, 5th round draft pick comp. Friedman is excellent. Even if it is all bs, Friedman and the Dodgers have the pedigree to get away with it.
Even if “the K” was/is injured,.they could.have made other offers other than a QO. (And what is a 5th round anyways) I think locking up.the K for future use would be worthwhile,even if that means tossing 18M to the wind.
Dorothy is right.Friedman is smart.
Friedman is really, really cool and being really, really cool to the K.
Now is “the K” going be really really cool to the Dodgers organization by taking a significant discount to stay relative to what other teams are offering him?
Oh and with the Dodgers’ track record a 5th round comp pick is crazy valuable. And they just threw it in the garbage because “reasons.”
Who is going to give Kershaw a lucrative deal with his unclear injury status? The Dodgers have the inside track on knowing what that is. It would not at all surprise me if he ended up requiring TJ surgery.
He is not taking a discount relative to what other teams would offer because other teams will not be backing up the Brimks truck for him.
Yes, the org does well with their draft picks, better than most. You are right.
But consider what an *-hole Friedman would have been if he said straight out, “We are concerned about his injuries”.
Friedman is being pretty cool.
Someone pointed out 40 man roster implications too. That was inciteful.
The Dodgers will be fine with one less pick, Friedman is a very good GM. You on the other hand probably aren’t a very nice person and wouldn’t make a very good GM.
@sdbaseballguy Every team would be FINE with one less pick. The question isn’t whether or not they’d be FINE. The question is whether they would be better or worse.
My guess is that he re-signs with the Bums at less than the QO in the end. Once he proves he’s healthy, they extend him. Win win
Angles ?
Kershaw ‘injured’ himself in his final outing of the regular season- just before the playoffs were about to begin. Good chance it was just a ploy so that he could avoid pitching in the post season and reaffirm his reputation as a choker (big surprise: he ‘doesn’t need surgery’ for it. Shocker…). It was also his worst season since his rookie year (decline). Scherzer claimed he couldn’t pitch in Game 6 (when he was supposed to) but that he would be good to pitch the very next day for game 7. Good chance that Scherzer just passed the buck and didn’t want to deal with the pressure of the possible elimination game. Pujols was a horrible presence on the Angels and when they finally released him after being a horrible player for half a decade, he of course didn’t help the Dodgers win the World Series. None of those 3 players should be back next season.
Wow… Someone left the “Stupid” door open
Around here that door never closes.
He is heading to the Padres
Lol, there’s ZERO chance of that.
Some players beat up their wives in the offseasom, some of them build schools in Africa. Some football players brandish weapons and speed on city streets drunk as a skunk and kill other motorists while some tutor underprivileged children. Some teams value character and others don’t. The real question is why did the Dodgers royally F up and sign Bauer not why did they show a respectful jesture to a franchise icon who literally built a school in Africa in the offseason
The real question is is Kershaw going to “respect” the Dodgers by taking a significant discount to sign there.
Wow. I am lucky I get to leave this conversation and never think about you and your hate ever again. Just chill out and recognize not everyone operates in the narrow mindset that you do. They did what they did, clearly the fans dont feel disrespected. Your narrative is pessimistic and shallow and from that vantage point than sure fine but there must be something you don’t know at play because it doesn’t fit your framework which either means the Dodgers front office is stupid or your framework is broken. Pretty sure it is the latter. Hope someone just once in your life shows you the respect and admiration that the Dodgers front office just showed kershaw. G night!
If literally any other GM swatted a free draft pick to the ground because “respect” or “goodwill” or whatever the commenters on this site would descend upon them. But because it was Friedman Almighty he has a bunch of fanboys defending the move. Very interesting.
Mike Rizzo did that with Harper- so there is an example and of course he isn’t the only example. The implication of your comment is obvious and pathetic. If his name was Johnson, Smith, Jackson, etc instead of Friedman, you wouldn’t have posted that garbage.
@Eric4617
“Mike Rizzo did that with Harper.”
Uhm, no he didn’t. The Nationals for sure QO’d Harper.
True, Gimmicky Username, it turns out they did. Doesn’t change the main point of the response. But ‘how dare’ fans trust a guy who managed to make a team with a perennially (extremely) low budget a regular major contender.
@Eric4617 Which of those two teams has a low budget????
Calling BS. Respect? I WISH teams did that. The real answer is “what if he took it??!!” There’s 0% chance they want to pay him $18.4M for 1 year. Watch, if they resign him, it will be for considerably less.
Makes a lot more sense
When a single person puts 34 of 117 posts on a single thread, it means they are trying to get attention for themselves rather than for the merits of their argument. Little value to just saying the same thing that many times. Most likely this was a courtesy so that Kershaw could take his time to decide if he is healthy enough to want to play at the start of 2022 and also to ascertain if his family is ok with one or two more years with LA. Could it theoretically be a strategy to keep a roster slot or to spin a non-offer or lesser offer? Sure, but that is idle speculation covered with one or two posts, not thirty-four.
It can be a fine line sometimes between making an argument and being antagonistic, but not in this case. Unfortunately due to the way the muting system works on these boards, filtering out the trolls also hides a lot of other comments threaded under their comments. It sure would be better if some of the worst offenders could be booted, but it doesn’t seem like that is going to happen.
Another article on the Kershaw situation in the LA Times makes it somewhat clearer. Friedman’s comments don’t leave you with the idea that the Dodgers failed make the QO out of courtesy, let alone to make it easier for him to go elsewhere. The underlying reason is the expectation that if Kershaw does decide to pitch next year that he and the Dodgers will work out the details. Absolutely no doubt the Dodgers want him back, and if they do, no reason to believe anything else will happen.
@MannyBeingMVP The QO wouldn’t stop him from “taking his time to decide if he is healthy enough to want to play at the start of 2022 and also to ascertain if his family is ok with one or two more years with LA.” All it would do is mean the Dodgers get a draft pick if he goes elsewhere.
Do I really have to post that many times? My fingers are getting tires…..
I think Kershaw knows he’s not coming back or maybe even retiring. In his last game pitched, when the manager came out to get him, the out going pitcher normally gives the ball to the manager. But this time I believe it was his last time on the mound, for Kershaw took the game ball with him. Almost like saying to himself that’s it.. and took the game ball as his last memory.. I also believe his elbow it worse that anyone is saying..
I agree, I think he’s done. It’s a shame he did get 200 wins or 3000 k’s.
No one cares about your pathetic little win stat.