Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Clayton Kershaw

Dodgers Add Roki Sasaki To 40-Man Roster

By | at

The Dodgers have finalized their roster in advance of their Opening Day tilt with the Cubs. Los Angeles officially added Roki Sasaki to their 40-man roster. They also selected the contract of veteran reliever Luis García, who had been in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove were placed on the 60-day injured list to create the necessary 40-man openings. Grove underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last week. Graterol is recovering from a labrum procedure in his own shoulder and will not be back until the second half of the season at the earliest.

Los Angeles placed an additional seven pitchers on the 15-day IL: Tony Gonsolin (back tightness), Edgardo Henriquez (left foot fracture), Kyle Hurt (rehabbing Tommy John surgery),  Clayton Kershaw (rehabbing toe surgery), Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement), Evan Phillips (rehabbing rotator cuff strain), and Emmet Sheehan (rehabbing Tommy John surgery). With Gavin Stone and River Ryan landing on the 60-day IL during Spring Training, the Dodgers have 11 pitchers beginning the season on the injured list. Each of Kershaw, Sheehan, Hurt and potentially Henriquez figure to land on the 60-day IL eventually.

By and large, these are procedural moves. The only real decision is their call to carry García in the bullpen. The hard-throwing righty inked a minor league deal that came with a $1.5MM base salary if he made the team. He didn’t have a great camp, allowing three runs with a trio of strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. The Dodgers were nevertheless encouraged enough by his stuff to add him to Dave Roberts’ middle relief group.

García divided his 2024 season between the Angels and Red Sox. The 38-year-old pitched reasonably well for the Halos, working to a 3.71 earned run average through 43 2/3 innings. He posted roughly average strikeout (22%) and walk (7.7%) rates with a strong 51.2% ground-ball percentage. Things went sharply downhill in Boston. García missed a couple weeks late in the season with elbow inflammation. He was tagged for 15 runs across 15 1/3 innings in a Sox uniform. That pushed his season ERA to an unimpressive 4.88 mark through 59 frames.

Sasaki was not previously on the 40-man roster as a quirk of the international amateur system. The same age restriction that capped his signing bonus to a modest $6.5MM also limited him to signing a minor league contract. The Dodgers were never going to send him to Triple-A, of course, but he was technically in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Sasaki took the ball twice in exhibition play. He fired seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

The touted 23-year-old righty will make his major league debut on Wednesday night in his home country (3:10 a.m. Pacific in the U.S.). He’ll go opposite Justin Steele in the second game of the season. It’ll be a matchup of Japanese-born starters Tuesday night at the Tokyo Dome, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the ball against Shota Imanaga.

Clayton Kershaw Expects To Go On 60-Day IL To Start Season

By | at

The Dodgers officially re-signed Clayton Kershaw earlier today but it seems he won’t be helping them early in the season. He tells Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic that he expects to be on the 60-day injured list to start the year, likely returning about when those 60 days are up. That suggests he’s targeting a late May return.

Kershaw’s 2025 timeline has never been clear until now. He announced in early November that he would require some surgical work on his lower left leg. Part of that was due to a bone spur in the big toe on his left foot, which sent him to the IL last year. The surgeries would also address a ruptured plantar plate and a torn meniscus in his knee. It was never expressly laid out when Kershaw expected to return, though there’s now at least a vague target.

Players can be placed on the 60-day IL once pitchers and catchers report to spring training, so several players are already there, including Dodgers like Gavin Stone and River Ryan. Kershaw could follow them there but the 60-day count doesn’t begin until Opening Day. IL transactions can be backdated three days, so teams will only put guys on the 60-day if they don’t expect them to be healthy in the first 57 days of the season.

The Dodgers start the schedule a little bit earlier than most teams, as they and the Cubs are facing off in the Tokyo Series this year. Two regular season games between those teams will take place on March 18th and 19th, while the 28 other teams will play their first regular season game March 27.

The update from Kershaw makes the rotation picture a little less crowded in the short term. As of right now, the Dodgers project to have a six-man starting staff consisting of Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin. They will start the season with Shohei Ohtani acting as the designated hitter but not pitching. He didn’t pitch in 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery and also required surgery on his non-throwing shoulder in the fall. He is expected to be back on the mound in May and it seems Kershaw’s timeline is similar.

It’s theoretically possible the Dodgers will have too many rotation options at times this summer. Once Kershaw and Ohtani are back in the mix, they could have eight viable candidates for six spots. Sasaki and Gonsolin are the only two who can be optioned to the minors. It seems highly unlikely Sasaki will be sent down at any point, given that he’s already considered an ace-level talent. Gonsolin is also just 20 days away from five years of MLB service time, at which point he would have the right to refuse being optioned.

However, there are also health concerns all throughout the group, so it seems fair to wonder how often six or more of them will be healthy at any given time. May and Gonsolin missed all of 2024 recovering from surgery. Snell only pitched 104 innings last year and has only hit 130 twice in his career. Yamamoto’s first MLB season saw him spend a lot of time on the IL, only getting to 90 innings. Glasnow set a personal best last year by getting to 134. Sasaki never hit 130 innings in any of his seasons in Japan.

It’s an extreme quality-over-quantity group, so it will be interesting to see if it ever feels truly crowded. If significant injuries pile up, the club also has Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Nick Frasso, Justin Wrobleski and Ben Casparius as optionable guys on the roster who should be in the Triple-A rotation.

For Kershaw personally, he will be looking take on a sizable workload for the first time in a while. It used to be his norm to log about 230 innings in a season but he hasn’t done that since 2015 and he hasn’t hit 132 since 2019. He did get to 131 2/3 in 2023 but was clearly working with diminished stuff and required shoulder surgery in the offseason. He returned from that procedure to make seven starts in July and August of last year but then went back on the IL due to the foot issues and finished the year with just 30 innings pitched.

Missing the first few weeks of 2025 will prevent him from having a massive workload this year but he could certainly go well beyond those 30 frames if things go according to plan. As for what’s beyond that, it seems the future Hall-of-Famer isn’t making any decisions yet. He tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he plans to go year to year, as opposed to putting a firm timeline on how many more seasons he plans to play in.

Dodgers Re-Sign Clayton Kershaw

By | at

Feb. 13: The Dodgers made it official today, announcing that they have signed Kershaw. Right-hander River Ryan, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was transferred to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move.

Kershaw is guaranteed $7.5MM on a one-year deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll unlock a $1MM bonus for making his 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th starts of the season. The deal also contains active roster bonuses; he’ll add an additional $2.5MM for 30 days on the active roster, $1MM for 60 days and $1MM for 90 days.

In all, that $7.5MM base can more than double to $16MM so long as Kershaw starts at least 16 games and stays healthy for about half the season.

Feb. 11: The Dodgers and left-hander Clayton Kershaw have agreed to terms on a new deal, reports Alden González of ESPN. It was previously relayed by Dylan Hernández of the Los Angeles Times that the lefty is in camp with the club. The deal isn’t official yet because the Excel Sports Management client still has to undergo a physical. The details of the new agreement aren’t yet publicly known. The Dodgers will need to open a 40-man spot but have several candidates to be moved to the 60-day injured list.

The move doesn’t come as a surprise at all. The future Hall-of-Famer has spent his entire career with the Dodgers to this point. He has gone into free agency multiple times and always re-signed. There has occasionally been some thought that he would like to join the Rangers, since he’s from the Dallas area, but that’s never come to fruition. On the heels of the Dodgers winning the most recent World Series, he declared himself a “Dodger for life.”

Kershaw, 37 in March, did turn down a $10MM player option for the 2025 season. Still, that seemed to be more of a formality, based on the strong relationship between him and the franchise. Even though he walked away from that money, the industry expectation has been that the two sides would reunite on some kind of new deal. As recently has a few weeks ago, it was reported that the two sides were interested in a reunion.

His current health situation is unknown. In early November, when he made the “Dodger for life” comment, Kershaw also relayed some details of upcoming surgeries. He told reporters at that time that he was to have work done on both his left toe and his left knee. He had dealt with bone spurs in his big toe during the season and also revealed after the campaign that he had a torn meniscus and a ruptured plantar plate that needed to be addressed.

It’s possible that his new deal will come with various incentives based on his output, as was the case the last time he re-signed with the Dodgers. He had surgery going into last winter and wasn’t expected to come back until midway through the 2024 schedule. He signed a deal with a modest $10MM guarantee over 2024 and 2025, with the latter year being a player option. Based on his 2024 appearances, he could earn an extra $7.5MM in 2024, as well as potentially bumping the $5MM option as high as $20MM. There were also incentives based on his 2025 appearances that could have allowed him to earn as much as $25MM on the year.

Kershaw only ended up throwing 30 innings over seven starts last year, allowing 4.50 earned runs per nine. He started the season on the IL while still recovering from that shoulder surgery, getting reinstated in late July. But he was back on the IL by the end of August due to his toe issues and finished the season there. That wasn’t a huge showing but it was enough to get the base of his player option up to $10MM. Though he went back under the knife for his lower body injuries, he still felt comfortable enough turning that down, though he and the club will surely figure out some new arrangement that works for both.

Though it’s not a surprise to see Kershaw back with the club, there’s still some mystery about what’s next. As mentioned, it’s unclear if he’s fully healthy now or if he’s still working his way back from his most recent procedure.

On paper, the Dodgers have a robust collection of rotation options. They currently have Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow taking up four spots. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May should be in the mix as well. Shohei Ohtani isn’t expected to be ready by Opening Day but could be back on the hill in May.

The club seems likely to run a six-man rotation. That’s partially due to Sasaki making the move from Japan, where starting pitchers only throw once a week. On top of that, basically everyone else in their pile of starters has workload concerns. Snell only got to 104 innings last year and has only twice gone beyond 130. Yamamoto spent a decent chunk of 2024 on the IL and only got to 90 frames. Glasnow got to 134, which was a career high for him. May, Gonsolin and Ohtani were recovering from respective surgeries, with no one of that trio pitching last year.

Throw Kershaw into the mix and its eight starters for six spots, before even mentioning pitchers like Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Nick Frasso, Justin Wrobleski and Ben Casparius, who all have options and are likely to be in the minors as depth.

Given all the health question marks throughout the group, it’s unlikely to expect everyone to be healthy for the entire season, but there may be times where players get squeezed. Moving to the bullpen isn’t easy either, as the club is a bit squeezed there as well. With a six-man rotation, the club can only have seven relievers, given the 13-pitcher roster limit. Ohtani counts as a two-way player and will eventually allow them to have 14 pitchers, but he won’t be pitching to start the year.

The bullpen chart currently includes Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Anthony Banda and Alex Vesia. No one in that group can be optioned except for Vesia, who had a 1.76 ERA last year. The bullpen is tight enough that Ryan Brasier recently got designated for assignment and flipped to the Cubs.

Time will tell how the Dodgers balance the juggling act, though the pressure on the 40-man roster is about to ease. Now that they have opened camp, they are allowed to transfer players to the 60-day injured list. Each of Emmet Sheehan, Brusdar Graterol, Kyle Hurt and River Ryan are likely bound for the IL soon, with each recovering from a significant surgery. The Dodgers will need a roster spot for Kershaw once this becomes official, but that will still leave them with three roster spots to play with.

Financially, RosterResource has the Dodgers at a $383MM payroll and $386MM competitive balance tax figure. Those are both franchise records and tops in the league by wide margins, but the club seems to have few limits right now. They have international star power from Ohtani and various other players on the roster, with a decade-plus run of postseason appearances, in addition to being reigning world champions. The cash flow situation seems to be incredibly healthy, with the ownership group willing to pump a lot of that money back into the roster.

Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw Still Interested In Reunion

By | at

The Dodgers have added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to a rotation already expected to return Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow. Injured righties Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are both in line to be ready for Opening Day as well. That’s six viable rotation arms, before even accounting for younger pitchers who’ve now been pushed into depth roles: Bobby Miller, Justin Wrobleski, Landon Knack and Ben Casparius among them.

Despite that stock of arms, the organization still seems open to and likely to re-sign lefty Clayton Kershaw. General manager Brandon Gomes said yesterday that the newcomers on the pitching staff haven’t altered the team’s interest in Kershaw (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Kershaw, 37 in March, is recovering surgery to repair a torn meniscus and a second surgery to address bone spurs and a ruptured plantar plate in his foot. He’s working through a throwing program but is not yet pitching off a mound, per Gomes.

In each of the past two offseasons, there’s been at least a bit of intrigue as to where the future Hall of Famer might sign. It was a two-team market in those instances, with Kershaw expected to either remain in L.A. or sign a short-term deal with the Rangers, who play within driving distance of his Texas home. After the Dodgers captured a World Series title last year, however, Kershaw declared himself a “Dodger for life.” He subsequently reiterated to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya not long after that he planned to be back with the Dodgers for an 18th season in 2025.

Given that a reunion is something of a fait accompli, it seems there’s no rush to get a contract finalized. Kershaw declined a player option back in November. The two parties are widely expected to work out a new arrangement. From the Dodgers’ vantage point, it’d be beneficial to hold off on formalizing anything until spring training has commenced. They’re already facing a 40-man roster crunch with the looming but not-yet-finalized deals with Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates.

The Dodgers need to open one 40-man spot for that pair — they’re currently at 39 players — and re-signing Kershaw now would mean jettisoning a second 40-man player. If he signs after camp opens, though, the Dodgers will be able to accommodate his addition by placing an injured player on the 60-day IL. The Dodgers have a whopping five pitchers who are on the 40-man and recovering from major surgeries. Brusdar Graterol will miss the first half of the season following shoulder surgery. Gavin Stone had shoulder surgery in October and could miss the entire 2025 season. Each of River Ryan (Aug. 25), Kyle Hurt (July 30) and Emmet Sheehan (May 16) had Tommy John surgery last year. They’ll all very likely be placed on the 60-day IL at some point.

The aforementioned knee and foot injuries, paired with Kershaw’s rehab from Nov. 2023 shoulder surgery, combined to limit the three-time Cy Young winner to just 30 innings in 2024. He posted a 4.50 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate, showing strong command but uncharacteristically low swing-and-miss abilities. Kershaw’s fastball sat at a career-low 89.9 mph on average last season, and his slider and curveball each saw a dip in velo as well (particularly the latter).

There’s no telling the extent to which he can regain some of the lost velocity, but from 2019-23, Kershaw notched a 2.77 ERA and 27.5% strikeout rate over 616 1/3 innings even while averaging just 90.7 mph on his heater. He doesn’t need to get his velocity back up to or even close to its 93-94 mph peak to have success. The Dodgers are in the top tier of luxury penalization yet again, so any dollars allocated to Kershaw will come with a 110% tax.

Clayton Kershaw Declines Player Option

By | at

The MLB Players Association announced that Clayton Kershaw has become a free agent. That indicates he declined his $10MM player option with the Dodgers.

Kershaw has said on a few occasions that he plans to stay in Los Angeles. He announced at the World Series parade that he would be a “Dodger for life.” It stands to reason that the future Hall of Famer plans to renegotiate a new contract with the team, but he needed to decide by this evening whether to exercise the option.

In all likelihood, this is simply a move that’ll buy the sides time to hammer out a new incentive-laden deal. Kershaw’s last contract was heavily stocked with incentives as he returned from shoulder surgery. While he’s not battling anything quite that serious this time around, he is set to undergo surgeries on his left knee and left big toe. Kershaw and the club may want to evaluate his recovery before settling on some kind of incentive package for his next contract.

That also affords an extra bit of flexibility from a roster perspective. Kershaw would have counted against the 40-man roster all winter had he exercised the option. He won’t count against the roster for as long as he’s a free agent. That’ll allow the Dodgers to somewhat unofficially operate with an extra spot for a while.

Once Kershaw returns to L.A., he’ll rejoin a rotation that could lose both Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler to free agency. The Dodgers have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May among their in-house rotation options. As is the case each winter, it’s a group loaded with talent but plenty of durability questions. The Dodgers should be heavily involved for starting pitching.

Dodgers Notes: Hernandez, Flaherty, Kershaw, Freeman

By | at

Teoscar Hernandez and trade deadline pickup Jack Flaherty are heading to free agency after playing major roles in the Dodgers’ World Series triumph, and both players told reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio and SportsNet LA’s David Vassegh) that they would like to return to Los Angeles for an encore.

“My hopes are really high.  Like I’ve said before, the Dodgers are the priority, obviously,” Hernandez said.  “I’m going to do everything in my power to come back….I want us to be here.  I want us to be part of this.  I have so many good memories here.  I’ve learned a lot as a player, as a person.  It feels great to be part of this.”

“I love this city.  I never want to leave,” Flaherty told Vassegh, with the words perhaps carrying a bit of extra weight since Flaherty was born in Burbank and grew up in Los Angeles.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Flaherty would give the Dodgers a hometown discount, though naturally playing close to home gives the Dodgers (and theoretically the Angels) an extra edge that other potential free-agent suitors can’t match.

It isn’t surprising to hear players on any team (whether world champions or not) express an open desire to re-sign with their current teams, and feelings could change as the free agent market develops.  Of course, winning a title again underlines the fact that L.A. should be a contending team for years to come, giving the Dodgers even more flexibility in picking and choosing how they’ll construct their 2025 roster.

Re-signing Hernandez would bring another big bat back into the lineup and check off the left field question mark in one fell swoop.  Though the slugger is entering his age-32 season, he is also coming off one of the best years of his nine MLB seasons, and he further showed his value with a big playoff performance.  On the flip side, Hernandez would surely reject a qualifying offer, putting the Dodgers in line for a compensatory draft pick if Hernandez signed elsewhere.  If Los Angeles wanted to give Andy Pages more playing time in left field or perhaps keep the position open for another outfielder (even a big name like Juan Soto), the Dodgers could opt to walk away from Hernandez and just view their one-year alliance as a total win for both parties.

Both Hernandez and Flaherty were looking to bounce back after shaky 2024 seasons, and Flaherty likewise answered some critics by posting a 3.17 ERA across 162 combined regular-season innings with the Tigers and Dodgers.  The right-hander’s postseason performance was a lot more inconsistent, yet Flaherty was important simply because he was a proper starting pitcher within the injury-ravaged Dodgers’ staff.  On paper, most of Los Angeles’ injured pitchers will be ready to go by Opening Day 2025, yet the team will surely look to solidify this group with at least one other starter to provide some durability as well as quality innings.

Clayton Kershaw is one of those pitchers with a murky health status, as the longtime Dodger ace is set to undergo a pair of surgeries on his left knee and toe.  Kershaw pitched only 30 regular-season innings in 2024 due to bone spurs in his toe, his recovery from a shoulder surgery from last November, and this heretofore unknown torn meniscus in his left knee.

The southpaw has already said he is planning to pitch in 2025, and reiterated to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that “I’ll be back, somehow” for an 18th season with the Dodgers.  This might not necessarily come to pass, however, just by Kershaw exercising his $10MM player option for 2025, as Kershaw might also look to work out a new contract with L.A. that would presumably give both gives some flexibility for the future.  Several of the Dodgers’ extensions in recent years have involved tacking an extra option year or two onto a shorter-term deal, so it seems quite possible the club could again explore such a contract with Kershaw.

In other Dodger news, the end of the playoffs also acts as the time when players traditionally come clean about any hidden injuries they’ve been playing through in October.  It was already known that Freddie Freeman was playing despite an ankle sprain and bone bruise, yet ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that Freeman also suffered broken costal cartilage in his rib while taking batting practice just prior to the start of the Dodgers’ NLDS matchup with the Padres.

The first baseman still played in four of the five games in that series as well as four of the Dodgers’ six NLCS games with the Mets, though Freeman was hitting only .219/.242/.219 in his first 33 playoff plate appearances.  The four days’ off between the end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series provided Freeman with a chance to fully rest and reset, and he somewhat miraculously felt much better heading into Game 1, when he kicked off his World Series MVP performance.

Clayton Kershaw To Undergo Toe And Knee Surgeries

By | at

As the Dodgers celebrate their World Series victory today, left-hander Clayton Kershaw informed reporters that he will be on the surgeon’s table next week, with work to be done on his left toe and left knee.

He missed time this year due to bone spurs in his left big toe, but the problems evidently go beyond that, as he also has a ruptured plantar plate. The knee surgery will be to correct a torn meniscus. Details were relayed by various reporters, including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic (X links). His return timeline is unclear at this point.

Kershaw, 37 in March, has a legendary career but his most recent seasons have been defined by his health issues. Due to various ailments, he hasn’t tossed 135 innings in a season since 2019.

It was almost exactly a year ago, on November 3 of 2023, that the lefty announced he had undergone shoulder surgery. Since that procedure was going to keep him out until midseason, he and the Dodgers reunited on a deal that reflected his health status.

It was technically a two-year deal, with Kershaw guaranteed $5MM in both 2024 and 2025 but with the second season being a player option. The deal also included a number of incentives that would allow Kershaw to increase both the value of his 2024 salary and 2025 player option based on games started.

As he attempted to return to the club this summer, he was slowed by some shoulder soreness during his rehab, getting reinstated in late July. In just over a month on the roster, Kershaw made seven starts with a 4.50 earned run average before landing on the injured list due to the aforementioned bone spurs in his toe.

He attempted to get back into game shape as the season was winding down but wasn’t successful. Today’s news provides a bit more clarity on what exactly Kershaw was up against while trying to get back on the field.

By making seven starts this year, Kershaw unlocked escalators worth $5MM on his 2025 option, bringing the value to $10MM. Though he’s set for another offseason of surgery and rehab, he reiterated today that he plans on coming back next year.

He could do that simply by triggering the $10MM option, or perhaps he and the club will negotiate some new pact. His recent free agent trips have been characterized as him essentially deciding between returning to the Dodgers versus signing with his hometown Texas Rangers. During today’s celebrations, Kershaw seemed to erase any mystery about which jersey he would be wearing next year. He declared himself a “Dodger for life,” per Ardaya on X.

Whenever he returns, he will slot into a Dodger rotation that currently projects to include Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Landon Knack and others.. Guys like Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan or Kyle Hurt could factor in once they recover from their Tommy John surgeries. The Dodgers will also likely make offseason moves that alter their rotation picture, either via free agency or trade.

Clayton Kershaw Intends To Pitch In 2025

By | at

Clayton Kershaw has been forced to watch the Dodgers’ playoff run from the dugout due to the bone spurs in his left big toe, which capped off an injury-marred season that saw him pitch a career-low 30 innings.  Despite these obstacles, Kershaw told the Fox Sports pregame crew today (video link) that he plans to return for his 18th Major League season.

Referring to the shoulder procedure he underwent last November, Kershaw said “I want to make use of this surgery, you know?  I don’t want to have surgery and shut it down.  So I’m gonna come back next year and give it a go and see how it goes.”  While he referred to his bone spurs as “some tough luck,” Kershaw said that otherwise, “my shoulder and elbow, everything, my arm, feels great.”

Injuries have been an omnipresent part of Kershaw’s story for the last several seasons, and he has openly considered retirement before eventually deciding to keep pitching in general, and keep pitching for the Dodgers.  With a 4.50 ERA over his 30 frames in his age-36 season, this marked the first time Kershaw showed any decline in performance amidst his health concerns — while limited to 258 innings over the 2022-23 seasons, Kershaw still had a 2.37 ERA and was an All-Star in both campaigns.

Kershaw didn’t give any hint as to whether or not another surgery might be required to address his bone spurs, though that might seem the logical course of action for what has seemingly been a longer-term issue.  (Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said in August that Kershaw had been dealing with the bone spurs for multiple years.)  Until we know if such a procedure is even required or not, it’s too soon to say if Kershaw might be fully ready to go when the Dodgers start their Spring Training camp in February.  His shoulder rehab delayed his 2024 debut until July 25.

While rehabbing from the shoulder surgery, Kershaw delayed his next contract until February 2024, when he rejoined the Dodgers on a two-year, $10MM guarantee.  The contract is specifically a $5MM deal for the 2024 season and then a minimum $5MM player option for 2025 that Kershaw will presumably exercise.  As per the terms of the contract, Kershaw earned an extra $2.5MM in 2024 salary, and an extra $5MM on his player option, so he’ll now bank another $10MM by picking up his player option.  It is possible Kershaw and the Dodgers could work out an extension of some kind to lock in that salary and tack on another option for 2026, to give both sides flexibility should Kershaw want to keep pitching for yet another season.

Though Kershaw could still find himself with a World Series ring in a few weeks’ time, it isn’t surprising that he isn’t considering ending his career on the low note of a 30-inning season.  He even had a 2.63 ERA in his first five starts before allowing eight runs over his last six innings pitched, presumably when the returned discomfort from his toe started to impact his performance.  If Kershaw can remain as healthy as possible for a 37-year-old pitcher with his injury history, it isn’t hard to imagine that he can still deliver quality production.

After struggling through a mountain of pitching injuries this season, the Dodgers technically have a full staff worth of options for 2025, even if every available arm has some degree of health concerns.  As noted by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman stated over the weekend that the team may use a six-man rotation in order to help keep everyone healthy, and to provide more rest for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto specifically.  Ohtani didn’t pitch in 2024 due to UCL surgery and naturally has the added workload of his DH duties, while the Dodgers have been keeping Yamamoto on the Japan-like schedule of pitching with at least five days of rest.

Between that duo and Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow missed the end of the season and the playoffs due to an elbow strain, Tony Gonsolin didn’t pitch in 2024 while recovering from a Tommy John surgery, and Dustin May didn’t pitch in 2024 due to recoveries from a pair of arm procedures in July 2023 and then a throat surgery in July of this year.  Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, and prospect Jackson Ferris are other arms that figure to be part of the rotation mix.  It also stands to reason that L.A. will surely add another pitcher or two this offseason to help safeguard this group against any further injury hits.

Clayton Kershaw Won’t Return In 2024

By | at

5:15pm: Kershaw spoke to reporters (including Ardaya) this afternoon about the injury and revealed that his attempts to return from the injury have worsened his toe’s condition. Kershaw added that offseason surgery to address the bone spurs is “in the conversation” but indicated that no decision has been made to this point on the topic. When addressing his future Kershaw indicated that he still enjoys pitching but did not want to discuss his plans in detail until after the season has come to a close.

3:33pm: The Dodgers are scheduled to begin Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres later this evening, and among the pitchers notably absent from their roster for the series is veteran southpaw Clayton Kershaw. That’s not a surprise given that he was previously said to be targeting a return sometime in mid-October, but today manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that the Dodgers will actually be without Kershaw for the entire postseason. Plunkett adds that, according to Roberts, the bone spurs in Kershaw’s big toe have not improved since he went on the IL back in August, adding that things may actually have worsened since then.

The news officially brings to an end an injury-plagues season for Kershaw, who leaves the 2024 campaign behind with a 4.50 ERA (87 ERA+) and 3.87 FIP in 30 innings of work across seven starts while striking out just 18% of opponents. That’s by far the lowest strikeout rate of his career and the first time his ERA+ has been below average since his rookie campaign back in 2008, when his 98 ERA+ came in just a hair below average. While low walk and home run rates help to salvage some of Kershaw’s peripheral numbers, 2024 will nonetheless go down as the worst season of the veteran’s career to this point, though given the small sample its difficult to draw conclusion about his ability when healthy enough to take the mound.

Kershaw holds a $10MM player option for the 2025 season, though after occasionally contemplating retirement over the past few offseasons it’s not yet clear whether or not he’ll exercise that option or wait to decide on his future until later in the winter. Should he decide to continue his career into 2025, the future Hall of Famer will surely be welcomed back by the only team he’s ever known during an offseason where the club is sure to pursue rotation additions with only Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Gavin Stone locked into the 2025 starting rotation alongside Shohei Ohtani, whose return to the mound will likely necessitate moving to a six-man staff.

In the meantime, however, the Dodgers will need to piece together production from a rotation that offers little certainty outside of Yamamoto and deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty throughout the postseason. A struggling Walker Buehler (5.38 ERA in 16 starts) and rookie Landon Knack (3.65 ERA in 69 frames this year) stand as the club’s most likely starting options to fill out the rotation behind Yamamoto and Flaherty, who are set to start Games 1 and 2 respectively.

Aside from Kershaw, right-hander Joe Kelly was also left off the club’s NLDS roster. It was a difficult year for Kelly, who allowed a 4.78 ERA across 35 relief appearances while battling injuries. That includes a shoulder issue that bothered him throughout the final weeks of the season, and Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that the veteran right-hander won’t be available until at least the World Series after tweaking his shoulder during a simulated game this week. Without Kelly in the fold, the Dodgers figure to rookie Edgardo Henriquez to fill out their bullpen for the NLDS.

Clayton Kershaw Multiple Weeks From Return

By | at

With the postseason getting underway next week, the Dodgers figure to be without Clayton Kershaw at least into the middle of October. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic) that the future Hall of Famer is “not going to be viable for a couple weeks.” Kershaw has been out since late August on account of bone spurs in his left big toe.

Roberts said earlier in the week that the three-time Cy Young winner was in a “holding pattern” on his rehab. That didn’t bode well for his availability for the start of the playoffs. That’s a lock now. The Dodgers would clinch the NL West and a first-round bye with a win over the Padres tonight. Assuming they wrap up the division — either tonight or during their weekend series in Colorado — they’ll punch their ticket to a Division Series beginning next weekend.

Kershaw clearly isn’t going to be ready by that point. The NLCS begins on October 13. Roberts’ timeline leaves open the possibility of Kershaw returning for that series if the Dodgers get there, but it’s far from guaranteed. The Dodgers have already ruled out Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone through the entire postseason. Kershaw’s return seems questionable at best.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty will take the ball in some order for the first two games of the postseason. Rookie righty Landon Knack probably lines up as L.A.’s Game 3 starter. The Dodgers haven’t managed to get Walker Buehler on track, while Bobby Miller pitched so poorly that he was optioned back to Triple-A a few weeks ago.

Kershaw’s regular season concludes with a 4.50 ERA over 30 innings. He didn’t make his season debut until shortly after the All-Star Break as he completed rehab from last November’s shoulder surgery. He made seven starts. That’s significant from a contractual perspective. Kershaw’s two-year, $10MM deal contained a ton of incentives. He tacked on $2.5MM to this year’s $5MM base salary. Getting to seven starts also added $5MM in escalators to next year’s player option. That option was initially valued at $5MM but will land at $10MM; Kershaw could boost that as high as $25MM if he makes 25 starts next year.

The Dodgers provided a few additional injury updates this evening. Miguel Rojas, who left last night’s game, said that he’s been diagnosed with a partially torn left adductor (groin) muscle (X link via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). The veteran infielder said he’ll need to undergo surgery in the offseason but believes he’ll be able to play through it during the postseason. Rojas has emerged as Roberts’ starting shortstop thanks to his defensive reliability and a solid .283/.337/.410 showing at the plate. He won’t play tonight. Tommy Edman moves in to play shortstop while Andy Pages steps into the lineup in center field.

The bullpen is also taking a hit. Roberts said that righty Brusdar Graterol is going back on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation (via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). Graterol has battled shoulder problems dating back to Spring Training. He also lost a few weeks late in the year to a hamstring strain. The hard-throwing sinkerballer has been limited to seven appearances, during which he has thrown 7 2/3 frames of two-run ball. Graterol was one of the best relievers in MLB last year, turning in a 1.20 ERA across 67 1/3 frames.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top