by Clayton Kershaw is not going anywhere.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are apparently close to the signing of a new deal with the old pitcher, which was seen on Tuesday morning at the team’s spring training facility, according to several reports. That should not be that surprising, given that Kershaw said that he wants to be a “Dodger for Life”, but this season he was out of the season after rejecting the 2025 option at his previous deal.
The details of Kershaw’s new deal with the team, or when it will actually be agreed, are not yet known. But given that he came to the spring training without a definitive deal, it should be in the very near future.
Kershaw missed the entire late season last fall, and the World Series of Dodgers, because of a foot and knee injury to which he received an operation in November. He had stuck the meniscus in his left knee, and then he had an operation in his foot to tackle a bone trail, arthritis and a torn plantar plate. The 36-year-old said at the time that he is planning to return to the hill next season.
Kershaw, who made his MLB debut in 2008, spent his entire career with the Dodgers. He threw last on August 30 and made only seven starts for the team last season, which marked the least in a season he had in his 12-year career. The triple NL Cy Young Award winner went 2-2 last season with an ERA of 4.50.
The Kershaw deal marks the newest that the team has made in what has been an incredibly expensive out of season – where they landed Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernández, Hyesong Kim and others. They are expected to have a payroll of more than $ 375 million next season, which is by far the most in the competition, will lead them to a huge luxury tax penalty and at least one other owner has rubbed the wrong way. Kershaw will again join a rotation that is expected to have Ster Shohei Ohtani for the first time on the hill since he also landed with the Dodgers.
It is clear that the franchise goes all-in during a return trip to the World Series. The signing of Kershaw is somehow only a small part in that search.
