Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Reported Contract Value Revealed
According to several reports, the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw have agreed to a contract for the 2023 season. But nothing official has been announced yet by the club as of publishing time. MLB insider Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the news but he didn’t have much beyond the fact that was a deal reportedly in place.
So nothing about the value of the deal was known at the time, but we now have an idea of what Kershaw’s deal will look like thanks to Jon Heyman.
Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw and the team are in agreement. Deal thought worth close to $20M for 2023. @Ken_Rosenthal was on it
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 11, 2022
The left-hander agreed to a one-year, $17 million deal for the 2022 season just before spring training started. The deal included performance bonuses believed to put the final value of the contract north of $20 million after he made 22 starts last season.
So, Heyman’s $20 million for next season falls in line with what he made last year. One difference this offseason from last is that the left-hander is fully healthy. A year ago, Clayton was rehabbing an elbow injury that put his career in jeopardy. Now he’s expected to a full and regular offseason before reporting to Camelback Ranch in Glendale, AZ as the baseball universe loves to see.
Kershaw posted a 2.28 ERA over 126.1 innings in 2022. He also started for the National League in the All-Star game for the first time, tossing a scoreless inning at Dodger Stadium. The veteran made just one start this past postseason, allowing 3 earned runs over 5 innings in a loss to the Padres in the NLDS.
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$20M is nothing to take for granted, but it’s probably far below what he might otherwise command on the open market. He’s the consummate team player–taking a “reasonable” salary to leave the club in a position to improve the team around him by leaving money on the table ala Tom Brady when he was with the Pats. It won’t be fun watching this team when Kersh finally hangs up his spikes.
$20 million for him to only play 3 months of the season. The other 3 on the IL
I know he is as insider as they come. But this feels like where Kershaw and JT haven’t signed or announced the values of their contracts to the public. It feels like they are waiting until the Dodgers make their play for one of the big fish, where a couple of Million might make the difference. Kershaw at this point is not playing for the richest contract, and would definately. Turner wants to return. Already has the 2mm from the buyout, and the final amount depends again on the other contracts. Then taking somewhere between 6-8mm. Do I have any imperial evidence or inside info, no. It is just what I would do if the team asked.
Kershaw will be like a domino effect
His signing probably brings Tyler Anderson back. And JT? He is well liked around LA. I could see him come back with a contract virtually the same as his last year. But only after incentives. And maybe another team option year tagged on.
I don’t care what Kershaw signs for, I just care that he’s coming back.
I mean, come on, it’s all just stupid money to those of us who are the proverbial working stiffs. Now my income is fine, I’m not complaining, I’m neither broke nor rich, but I really don’t care if Kershaw makes 100X what I make, or 200X or 300X or whatever. I do care if he comes back to the Dodgers, it’s a big yea if he does. But who cares what he makes.