Many months of waiting Clayton KershawThe next destination will be one of the Dodgers or Rangers. Buster Olney from ESPN hearslink to twitter) “Waiting for Heavy Industry” three-time Cy Young Award winner will return to Los Angeles.
Kershaw has kept his plans for the 2022 season fairly quiet, though at last check it looked like he intended to keep playing. However, this was not the case at the start of the offseason. The Dodgers made the surprise decision not to make Kershaw an $18.9 million qualifying offer, with baseball operations president Andrew Friedman suggesting the decision was to give the eight-time All-Star more time to consider his future.
I know that (Kershaw) wants to spend some time with (his wife) Ellen and find out what’s best for them and, more importantly, get to the point where he feels good about his health. We have no reason to believe he won’t,” Friedman said in November. The Los Angeles chief executive has made it clear that the decision not to tag Kershaw QO was not at all motivated by the team not wanting him to return in 2022. “We made it clear that if Kersh wants to come back, he will always be relevant to what he means to this organization – not just looking back, but what we think he can do for us next.” year.”
Kershaw has already established himself as one of the greatest pitchers in both franchise and major league history. He has won five ERA titles in Dodger Blue, posting sub-3.00 marks in eleven of his last thirteen seasons. Last year’s 3.55 was his highest since the 2008 rookie season. That such a still-impressive run avoidance was Kershaw’s worst in thirteen years is remarkable, and his key numbers confirm that he remains a very valuable pitcher.
Last season, Kershaw hit a high 29.5% of batters who faced a meager 4.3% of opponents. His 16.7% hitting percentage was a personal best, number one in the league for pitchers over 100 innings. Kershaw ranked sixth in strike-out rate difference (25.2 percentage points) and fifth in SIERA (3.10). It is the fastest production of the caliber based on rates, although its market was overshadowed by health concerns at the end of the season.
The left-hander missed two months from July to September due to inflammation in the elbow/forearm. He returned to make some starts, but again faced discomfort in his final regular season game. This forced him to undergo an injection of platelet-rich plasma at the end of the season, although he avoided surgery and was generally expected to be fully prepared for the start of the upcoming campaign.
Plenty of teams would contact Excel Sports Management’s Kershaw if he was buying into the league. However, there has never been any indication that he is considering signing anywhere other than the Dodgers, with whom he has spent his entire career, or the Rangers from his hometown. Texas, run by former Dodgers coach Chris Woodward, has been open about his desire to bring him back to Dallas. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote last night that Texas had payroll flexibility to run away from both Kershaw and first baseman A. Matt Olson, two players that the club apparently considers special targets. However, it always seemed like Kershaw’s decision would come down to his preference more than the amount of dollars teams put on the table.