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Los Angeles Dodgers: Can Mookie Betts be the greatest Dodger ever?

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 23: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers bats during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants in the Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 23: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers bats during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants in the Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Dodgers
(Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Dodgers /

Greatest players in Los Angeles Dodgers history: 2. Clayton Kershaw, 69.8 WAR (projected)

If we were going off of current WAR then Clayton Kershaw would have slotted in as the fourth-greatest player in Dodger history. However, with two more years under contract (including 2020), Kershaw is most likely going to finish his career with the Dodgers as the all-time leader in WAR.

Kershaw is currently at 65.3 career WAR with the Dodgers, meaning he just needs 2.9 WAR to surpass Reese. As long as Kershaw does not have any long-term injuries he will pass Reese, even with the shortened season in 2020.

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To calculate how much Kershaw would be worth the next two seasons, we took his last two WAR totals in 2018 and 2019 and averaged them out to him having 10 starts in 2020 (something that should still happen with his Opening Day scratch).

This would result in a 1.2 WAR for Kershaw in 2020 and if he keeps the same trend, a 3.3 WAR in 2021. At that point, he will be right under 70 career WAR at 69.8.

If he stays in LA past his current contract then he will continue to add to his legacy and will probably do enough to keep the projected number one from actually becoming number one. However, we did this projection under the impression that Kershaw’s current contract will take him to the end of his Dodgers career.

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