Dodgers Reach Agreement With Clayton Kershaw! Shout For Glee!

It’s done! It’s done! We were hearing rumors that the Dodgers were close to an extension with Clayton Kershaw. Stan Kasten made a statement that he was hopeful a deal could be reached by Friday, which is the arbitration deadline. Ramona Shelburne is now reporting it’s a done deal.

The financial terms are 215 million dollars over seven years. The deal nets him an annual salary of about 30 million dollars per season. The deal includes an opt out clause which can be exercised after the fifth year of the contract. The Dodgers had previously offered Kershaw some kind of lifelong contract worth around 300 million dollars, but that never came to fruition. My guess is that Kershaw is too humble to take some kind of an enormous lifetime deal.

Kershaw signs for 215 million dollars-Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

This deal is great, and it’s a huge load off of all of our minds. The 2014 season was the final arbitration year for Kersh, as he would have been able to declare free agency in 2015.

Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher of our generation, winning his second cy young award this past November. Kershaw at age 25 is only the second Dodger to ever win more than one Cy Young award. Kershaw is the one, or the direct descendent of Sandy Koufax. A Dodger pitcher of such great lore and talent, that he is destined to lead the Dodgers to excellence. Kershaw’s 2013 season was perhaps his best as he led the league in ERA, WHIP, and whiffs.

Kershaw posted a 16-9 record with a 1.83 ERA, and 232 whiffs against just 52 walks in 236 innings during his Cy Young award-winning 2013 season. Kershaw would have won three consecutive Cy Young awards had he not finished a distant second to the feel good story of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who stole the Cy Young from Kershaw in 2012.

Clayton Kershaw and Gonzo-Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw made 11 million dollars last season, and would have been in line for a substantial raise had the two sides gone to salary arbitration. Considering the Dodgers have not had a salary arbitration go to court hearing in years, it was doubtful we would have seen that. Even doubly so since we are talking about Clayton Kershaw. There has been no official announcement yet from the club, but we expect to see one soon.

I tell you what this is, it’s a god damned humongous relief is what it is I tell you what. We’ll have more later on the impact of the Clayton Kershaw extension. For now let’s just take a big breath of fresh air. Clayton Kershaw isn’t going anywhere, and rightfully so.