Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Wanted Justin Verlander in LA

Let me preface this article by saying Clayton Kershaw had absolutely zero animosity when talking about the Dodgers’ upcoming offseason. He shared no signs of being upset or angry with any decision the team has or has not made. He was just having a little fun.

On Monday, Kershaw joined the guys on Sportsnet LA to talk about his recent contract becoming official for the 2023 season. He said a lot of great things, and shared a clear desire to come back and win with the Dodgers in 2023.

He was then asked about how much he keeps up with the free agency news, and he mentioned he talks to Andrew Friedman here and there and makes his own predictions about who the team will sign. That’s when he decided to say this about the rumors connecting the Dodgers with Justin Verlander.

“You know, I wanted Verlander. I didn’t know how serious we were and all that. I thought that would’ve been a great fit for us. And obviously the Mets gave him a bunch of money, so I get that, understand how that stuff goes.”

On Monday, Verlander signed a massive two-year deal to join the Mets, who pivoted after losing their star Jacob deGrom to Texas. The Dodgers were definitely in on the Verlander sweepstakes, but the $43.3 million per year price tag seemed to be a little high for them, understandably so. Kershaw, however, was still excited to see what happens with the Dodgers, and knows this is an especially flexible offseason for Friedman.

“But we’ll see what happens. I know Andrew’s never out of anything. And he’s got a lot of options up his sleeve. And I was saying earlier, I think this is one of the few offseasons where there’s not like, he can kind of go in 300 different directions as far as what he wants to do to make our team better. It’s kind of fun to try to think with him but at the same time, Andrew’s Andrew and I have no idea what he’s going to do and it’ll be fun to see.”

It’s nice to see Kershaw is as invested as all Dodger fans checking the news to see what Friedman and the Dodgers decide to do. Hopefully Friedman has something big up his sleeve at these Winter Meetings. You know, for Kershaw’s sake.

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