Free Agent Frenzy: Clayton Kershaw Option, Enters…
The MLB Players Association announced that Clayton Kershaw has become a free agent. That indicates he declined his $10M 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.
