Dodgers free agents: Predicting which FAs stay and which leave LA

Clayton Kershaw: Stays with Dodgers

Clayton Kershaw is a free agent yet again, and there are some scared fans that are worried he will suit up in something other than Dodger blue in 2022. Personally, I think that is impossible. I will go out on a limb and say that there is a zero percent chance that Clayton Kershaw pitches for a different MLB team in 2022.

Why? Well, let’s think about the situation that Kershaw is in. Kershaw, although clearly the greatest player in Dodgers franchise history, is coming off of a huge injury season that undoubtedly lowered his value on the open market.

The Dodgers are going to be able to re-sign him for cheaper, and suddenly a “hometown discount” does not even seem like it would be that much of a discount at all.

Second of all, Kershaw has absolutely nothing to prove. He is already a bonafide first-ballot Hall of Famer who has won his World Series ring. If he was still chasing a ring, that would be one thing. I could see him taking a huge one-year, high-salary deal with another contending team to try and win a ring.

That is not the case anymore, and plus, the Dodgers are one of the best teams (if not the best team) to be on to contend for a championship!

There is no reason for Kershaw to uproot his family and go pitch for a team like Atlanta or Boston that is probably going to pay him around the same as the Dodgers. The only potential threat is him returning home to the Texas Rangers, but is he really going to go play for one of the worst teams in the league instead of contending for another World Series?

That is a move he can make when he is 37 years old. It is more likely that Kershaw retires than it is that he pitches on another team in 2022.