Clayton Kershaw isn’t going anywhere.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have re-signed the veteran left-hander to a one-year, $7.5 million deal. According to Fansided’s Robert Murray, Kershaw’s deal “includes $1 million each for 13, 14, 15, 16 games started. It also includes $2.5 million for 30 days on active roster, $1 million for 60 days on active roster, and $1 million for 90 days on active roster.”
Kershaw was spotted at the team’s spring training facility on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering that Kershaw has said he wanted to be a “Dodger for life,” but he hit free agency this offseason after declining the 2025 option on his previous deal.
Kershaw missed the entire 2024 postseason — featuring the Dodgers’ World Series run — due to foot and knee injuries that ended up requiring surgery in November. He had the meniscus in his left knee fixed, and then he had an operation in his foot to address a bone spur, arthritis and a ruptured plantar plate. The 36-year-old said at the time that he planned to return to the mound next season.
Kershaw, who made his MLB debut in 2008, has spent his entire career with the Dodgers. He last pitched on Aug. 30 and made just seven starts in 2024, which marked the fewest in a season in his 12-year career. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner went 2-2 last season with a 4.50 ERA.
The Kershaw deal marks the latest signing in what has been an incredibly expensive offseason for the Dodgers, as they landed Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernández, Hyeseong 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 league, will lead them to a massive luxury tax penalty and has rubbed at least one other owner the wrong way.
Kershaw will now try to rejoin a rotation that is expected to have star Shohei Ohtani back on the mound for the first time since he landed with the Dodgers. Clearly, the franchise is going all-in on a return trip to the World Series. Kershaw’s signing is somehow just a small part of that quest.
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