Column: Clayton Kershaw will finish his career with the Dodgers. As he should
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PHOENIX — He turns 37 next month. He’s the most decorated pitcher of his generation and one of the most decorated pitchers in history. He’s won an MVP award and three Cy Young Awards. He’s a two-time World Series champion.
So why is Clayton Kershaw still doing this?
“I don’t know,” Kershaw playfully replied. “Why do you still do it, Dylan?”
I told him the truth.
“I need the money,” I said.
Last year was a year of transformation for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who rallied from a midseason injury to become the Dodgers’ most reliable postseason starter.
As a player with more than $300 million in career earnings, Kershaw had other considerations.
“I don’t want [injuries] to be the reason that I stopped playing,” he said. “I don’t want to be, like, ‘I just can’t do it, [I’m] hurt.’ Hopefully, I can walk out on my own terms, whenever that is.”
Which is why he wanted to return for an 18th season with the Dodgers, even if doing so would require him to spend a second consecutive offseason as a surgical patient. Which is why he finalized a one-year, $7.5-million contract on Thursday, even if a new deal would force him to start another season on the 60-day disabled list.
Kershaw was uncertain of how much longer he wanted to play, but he said he knew this: When he retires, he wants to retire a Dodger.
The last few times he was a free agent, he considered a move to the Texas Rangers, who play near his offseason home in suburban Dallas. This winter, there was never a question of with whom he would sign.
“I’m a Dodger,” Kershaw said.
So that’s that.
Clayton Edward Kershaw will finish his career as a Dodger.
As he should.
Only 13 players who played in 10 or more major league seasons spent their entire careers with the Dodgers. Of them, only three played exclusively in Los Angeles: Bill Russell, Mike Scioscia and Andre Ethier.
Not even Tommy Lasorda was a lifelong Dodger, as he pitched in 1956 for the Kansas City Athletics.
“I don’t think I put enough merit on it at times of what it means to be able to be in one organization for your entire career,” Kershaw said. “You look at people throughout all of sports who have been able to do that, and it is special. It is, and I don’t want to lose sight of that.
“Getting to be here for my whole career, however long that is, is definitely a goal.”
Privately, Kershaw used to downplay the significance of spending his entire career with one team. What changed?
“I don’t have an answer for that, other than I want to be here,” he said.
Being here isn’t as easy as it used to be, and not just because Kershaw’s wife and four children will stay in Texas for most of the year.
Kershaw, who spent the majority of last season recovering from a shoulder operation, underwent surgeries to repair his left knee and left foot in November. He was on crutches for four weeks and in a walking boot for another four.
“With the shoulder, you can still walk and do a lot of stuff,”he said. “I was back to being a normal dad pretty quick. But being on crutches, being in a boot, having every step kind of hurt, it was hard. I don’t know if I expected all what a foot surgery entails, but [I’m] thankful now to be on the other side and feel like I’m getting closer to being 100%.”
Kershaw, who started running this week at the Dodgers’ spring-training complex, said he expected to start the season on the 60-day injured list but was hopeful of returning to the mound when those 60 days are up.
As Kershaw spoke in front of his locker, he stood next to a packed suitcase. He was returning home that afternoon.
“I’ll be back and forth a little bit,” he said.
Kershaw said he would like to travel with the Dodgers for their season-opening two-game series against the Chicago Cubs next month in Tokyo.
“Obviously, I won’t be ready, so I don’t know how that works,” he said. “But if I’m able to work out and stuff and be around, I’d love to. I don’t think you could get many opportunities to go to Japan with Shohei [Ohtani], so I think that’d be pretty cool.”
Injuries limited Kershaw to just seven starts last season, and he posted a 4.50 earned-run average that was the highest of his career. He didn’t pitch in the postseason.
Follow along for the latest news as the Dodgers open spring training at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix following their World Series-winning campaign.
“It just didn’t feel like it was the right time, even though we won [the World Series], you know, being on the shelf for that wasn’t the way that I had scripted it out. Still super thankful to be a part of it last year, and you get to see everything, but I want to be out there when it happens. So that was a good motivating factor, for sure.”
Kershaw said he didn’t experience any problems last season with his surgically repaired shoulder, which is why he thinks he can return to his previous levels of performance now that he’s addressed his lower-body issues.
He was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, his ERA a combined 2.37 in those seasons. He thinks he can pitch like that again.
Regardless of whether he actually does, the end of his career will be appropriate in at least one aspect. He will retire a Dodger.
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