The Los Angeles Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw beat the 4 o’clock deadline and have announced that Kershaw will be returning to the Dodgers on a 3-year $93 million contract with the Dodgers. Kershaw’s original deadline to decide was earlier this week on Wednesday but the two sides agreed to push it back until today to further extension talks.
Kershaw contract with #Dodgers is for three years, $93M with incentives, per source.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 2, 2018
Kershaw was 9-5 with an ERA of 2.73 striking out 155 batters through 161.1 innings pitched in 2018 for the Dodgers. The Dodgers wanted to get Kershaw back to bolster down their rotation and lock down their ace for a few more years before their World Series window closes. Kershaw struggled during the 2018 World Series where the Dodgers fell to the Boston Red Sox.
This extension/reworking of Kershaw’s contract pulls one of the biggest names off the market during this offseason. Kershaw’s last two years of his contract were scheduled for him to bring in $32.5 million but the new deal drops that total down to $31 million along with incentives.
Under previous deal, Kershaw’s average salary next two seasons would have been $32.5M. He gets an extra year in deal with #Dodgers and average drops to $31M, and total can grow through incentives.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 2, 2018
Kershaw was a three-time Cy Young winner and has also been instrumental in the recent postseason appearances for the Dodgers hopes to continue that trend for them. The Dodgers last World Series Championship was in 1988, and the Dodgers hope that keeping Kershaw around will allow them to change that. Kershaw brings a bigger than baseball aspect to the team as he is regarded for his work ethic, and modeled behavior for teammates.
