The Dodgers announced today that they have re-signed Clayton Kershaw to a one-year deal worth $20MM. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that it will take the form of a $15MM salary and $5MM signing bonus. It’s been almost a month since it was reported that Kershaw was nearing a return to the Dodgers on a one-year deal. For some reason, it took a long time for the paperwork to be taken care of, but the club has now made it official today. Kershaw is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Kershaw, 35 in March, was drafted by the Dodgers and has spent his entire career with the club. He made his debut back in 2008 when he was just 20 years old. Though he posted a 4.26 ERA at that young age, he took a step forward the next season and has been one of the best pitchers in the world ever since. To this point in his career, he has 2,581 innings under his belt with a 2.48 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate.
Kershaw is about a decade removed from his peak, when he won three Cy Young awards in four years, grabbing the trophy in 2011, 2013 and 2014. In the five-year stretch from 2011 to 2015, he topped 225 innings four times while never posting an ERA higher than 2.53.
Since that time, injuries have put a damper on the quantity of Kershaw’s work but the quality has remained quite strong. He hasn’t topped 180 innings since 2015 and has been kept under 127 since 2019. But he still generally keeps runs off the board when he’s on the mound. In 2022, he made a couple of trips to the IL but still made 22 starts and posted a 2.28 ERA over 126 1/3 innings, with rate stats roughly in line with his career marks.
Kershaw has signed a couple of extensions with the Dodgers over his time there, with the most recent one going through 2021. A free agent one year ago, it was speculated that Kershaw would be deciding between returning to the Dodgers, signing with the Rangers to be near his Dallas-area home, or retirement. Shortly after the lockout ended, Kershaw returned to Los Angeles on a one-year deal for $17MM plus incentives. This year, it was expected that Kershaw would be deciding between the same three paths. However, he didn’t wait around until the spring this time, with reports emerging shortly after the World Series that he would be coming back to the Dodgers yet again.
Kershaw was one of three starters that the Dodgers saw reach free agency at the end of the 2022 season, with Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney also hitting the open market. Walker Buehler is likely to miss the entire campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. With Kershaw back in the fold, he’ll join Julio Urías, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May in the rotation. They have some internal candidates for the fifth spot, such as Ryan Pepiot or Michael Grove, but it’s likely they will keep their eye on further additions, especially with some injury question marks hovering around this group. As mentioned, Kershaw hasn’t reached 127 innings since 2019 and May only made six appearances in 2022 after returning from his own Tommy John surgery.
Adding Kershaw’s $20MM to the books bring the club’s payroll for 2023 to $173MM, per Roster Resource. The club has gone well beyond that in recent years but some reporting has suggested they may consider sneaking under the luxury tax in order to reset their status in that department. The competitive balance tax features escalating penalties for teams that go over in consecutive seasons and the Dodgers could potentially stay under the line in 2023 and then go into 2024 as “first-time” payors. The lowest CBT line in the coming season will be $233MM, with Roster Resource calculating the Dodgers to now be at $189MM. That gives them over $40MM of wiggle room, though they will have a number of areas on the roster to address. In addition to the aforementioned rotation situation, they declined a club option on third baseman Justin Turner, non-tendered center fielder Cody Bellinger and also lost shortstop Trea Turner to free agency along with many relievers and role players.
The Dodgers won 111 games in 2022, the highest such total in the lengthy history of the franchise. That led to their ninth National League West division title in the past ten years. However, they could be looking to shake things up after they were dispatched by the Padres in the NLDS. They have a large number of free agents but also a number of prospects at or near the MLB level who could be ready to make the jump. If they do indeed decide to curtail spending this winter, they will have some interesting choices to make in terms of where their devote their resources in the rest of the winter.
It’s wild that Kershaw keeps signing one year deals and deGrom gets 5.
Good point Von. Never thought of it like that haha
LAD signs Kershaw for about the same as the Braves sign Morton. AA is good, but he was out done on this, right?…
I would expect it’s Kershaw’s decision more so than the Dodgers.
He seems like an everyday Joe too so I’d guess he’s already okay with the $275 mil he’s already made in his career.
I’m sure he’s pissing of the union though by not maximizing his earnings though.
Joe, I am probably overlooking something obvious, but why would he leave money on the table?
How much more money does he need?
I don’t know. How much more money does any multi millionaire need? Is that what he is doing? Trying to give his team a discount? Pretty admirable..
He probably the wants the annual flexibility, plus he may decide to eventually move to Texas and play for the hometown team. Unlikely but good to keep that possibility open.
I’m in the wrong business
myaccount2, he is gonna come log a few seasons in Anaheim before he pitches for Texas. Maybe the Rangers will give him the big contract huh? 5 years 100 mil?
Come to Texas Kershaw! One of these years when he’s 45 I’m sure he will be a Ranger!
He has said that he wants to take it year by year, gauging how he feels, and he doesn’t know when he will hang it up. That is why he does short deals. He will retire a Dodger, as he should. He is realistic and not greedy.
It sounds like you know him personally, tell his wife and kids I say hello!
Trumbo from what it looks like to me, he doesn’t seem to know how many years he wants to keep playing. I think he’s happy to go year to year so he can just go home when he’s ready.
Joe, that I can understand and agree with.
Yeah, I have a feeling that he pitches only 2-3 more seasons, at most. Depends on health, how well he pitches and how competitive the Dodgers will be. He’s always been a guy that wants to live up to his contract, and not the guy that tries to maximize the amount of money he makes. He is a fiery competitor and if he gets the sense that he is no longer effective he’ll hang it up.
Well, for one, Kershaw has almost DOUBLE the amount of innings pitched on his arm than DeGrom does.
That isn’t even including their MiL careers nor their amateur careers where DeGrom didn’t even really start pitching until his final year or so at Stetson.
So the mileage on Kershaw’s arm is significantly more than DeGrom’s, and that is why Kershaw is almost about to retire, and why a team would give DeGrom a guaranteed 5 year deal.
And that it’s for $20m to make 22 starts, Scherzer does the same for twice that money.
putiitbks – and?
It isn’t wild when you know something about the player. In fact, it’s exactly what you’d expect.
I think Kershaw only wants one year deals because he wants the option each year to decide if he wants to retire. He could retire in the midst of a contract but I have a feeling that he is a commitment guy and if you sign for 5 years you play for 5 years.
It’s not surprising at all, Kershaw has repeatedly said he doesn’t want to sign more than one year at a time. Once he feels he is not contributing on a competitive team he doesn’t want to take up a roster spot and feel like he is hurting the organization. He’s a class act.
Kershaw’s last season without spending significant time on the IL was 2015 when he made 33 starts. The last 2 seasons have been only 22 starts each year due to injuries.
Kershaw has performed exceptionally well when healthy but has missed 22 starts the last 2 seasons and more than 50 starts in the last 7 years.
Not sure any team, even the Dodgers, would be willing to give him a long-term deal with that injury history. That said, I am quite sure the Dodgers would be willing to continue to give him very lucrative one-year deals as long as he chooses to play.
The question becomes, how many games will he pitch?
More than deGrom
People are jealous that their team didn’t get degrom
This aged poorly
For last two years Kershaw had total of 44 starts and deGrom had total of 26.
Kershaw is high risk high reward, deGrom is even higher risk and higher reward.
Kershaw will be first ballot HOF, deGrom seems unlikely to make HOF despite having brief windows where he is the best.
And degrom has 10 fingers and 10 toes…we know
With how desperate the Mets are and how willing they are to overpay for pitching, the fact that they didn’t resign deGrom makes me wonder how hurt he is and how they think his injuries are chronic.
With how deGrom didn’t even allow the Mets to match or beat the Rangers offer makes me think that he really didn’t want to play for them anymore. What he did was kind of a %%#^# slap on the Mets organization. He was in essence saying, “I dislike you so much that I am not even going to give you a chance to pay me more money.”
The Rangers have all of deGrom’s medicals. Contracts are not official until the signing team has all medical records and the player has had a physical that typically includes MRIs,. The Mets are not allowed to hide anything. They have to give all of that info to MLB and MLB provides that to teams that are seeking to sign a FA.
Your takes are as bad as your umpiring skills.
james mid. – “The question becomes . . .”? What question? And really what does it become?
As it should be.
Congrats to Kershaw. Will this be his last season? It seems that injuries have taken their toll in terms of his ability to take the mound every 5th day.
As good as he has been he hasn’t made 30+ starts since 2015
When he does retire he will be a shoe-in to be 1st ballot HOF.
He’s taking it year to year, deciding at the end of each season whether he wants to go another round. He’ll retire when he feels he can no longer contribute to the team.
A definite first ballot election to the HoF. He’s got the sportsmanship box checked many times over. In fact if any player coming up wants to know the meaning of sportsmanship, he can just look at what Kershaw has said and done over the years, and especially recently.
I saw him curse once
Kersh will follow DeGrom to Texas next year for his final season. It’ll be one and done for him and a way to play at “home” for his last season. He wants a World Series in a full season in LA before he leaves hence the one-year deals. My opinion. Means nothing. Hahaha
Padres clear, sadly
Only way he leaves for the Rangers is if he feels the Rangers have a better shot at winning the WS AND he’s ready to leave Los Angeles. He’s spent his whole career with the Dodgers and if he does decide to leave the Dodgers I’m sure it will be a very difficult and emotional decision.
Kershaw should be a Dodger. Have to imagine he wears that cap his entire career and then into Cooperstown.
I really want to see him play for only one team in his career. It would not seem right to see him in another uniform.
He could EASILY make more than that on the open market.
So then that will come out to about $2 million per start?
Since this contact couldve been announced and signed anytime. I feel this has something to do with the Rule V draft.
Not saying its wrong or bad, in fact its strategic.
I guess not, 40-man roster at 37, so they wont have to waive anyone to make room.
Kershaw gave the Dodgers a discount
I’m unconvinced. Based on his history he’s unlikely to make a lot more than 20 starts in a season going forward. Not every team can afford quality over quantity. Another team might have been willing to guarantee him more than one season, but Kershaw doesn’t want that. The Dodgers are happy to accommodate his desire to take it year t0 year. The player and the team are made for each other.
20-25 starts at All-Star level production for $15M is still amazing value
Actually, $20m. I’d also expect the contract to include performance bonuses that we haven’t heard about yet, as did his previous contracts.
And in fact paying him a portion of it upfront (as a signing bonus) instead of over the course of a year increases the contract’s present value somewhat.
You have Verlander making $43M per year and Kershaw making $20M and technically only $15M salary.
Technically and in reality it’s $20m. The “signing bonus” means only that he gets $5m of the $20m upfront instead of being paid out over the course of the season.
I wonder if Kershaw is throwing his t.v. out the window after learning what JV just go
I called Kersh and asked him. He said he got exactly the contract he wanted.
This is now looking like an insane bargain.
The Dodgers are in a trance. Every year the same thing – Kershaw gets a one year deal, injured by July, they crumble in the post season. L.A. will be fighting with AZ for 3rd place in the NL West come September.
I’ll never understand the cult around this guy. Who cares about great regular season numbers? He’s a world class doofus who chokes at the most critical times. Yawn.
So embarrassing LOL
Too much $$$ for a washed up pitcher.
CAN’T BELIEVE HOW MANY POSTS RE: KERSHAW
Never a bad choice. I would take him every year.
Thank you one more time Mr. Kershaw you are the best