Kershaw Stays -- Two Dodgers' Get Qualifying Offers

To the shock of no one, the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw have officially agreed to a new three-year deal to stay in Los Angeles. The new contract will run til the 2021 season, and is set at $93MM -- averaging $31MM per season. On top of that, there are incentives drilled-in based on both number of starts and Cy Young voting, per Ken Rosenthal on twitter:

Kershaw breakdown: $31M in 2019, ‘20 and ‘21, plus $1M each for 24 starts, 26 starts, 28 starts, 30 starts. Also gets $1.5M for Cy Young, $500K for second- or third-place finish.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 2, 2018

Not too shabby, eh?

BTW, this new contract also does NOT include another opt-out clause, so we won't have to worry about in the future. Per Rowan Kavner at Dodger Insider:

“Obviously he’s made as much of an impact as you can on an organization in terms of the success we’ve had — not just on the field, but from a culture standpoint in terms of bringing up young pitchers and kind of emulating the work ethic, the drive,” said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

In celebration of this news I made a couple of fantasy custom Baseball cards of Clayton using two of my all-time favorite card designs -1952 & 1991 Topps. Check them out above. Both cards use pics originally taken by Jon SooHoo during the recent Game 5 at Dodger Stadium.

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In other news, two Dodger free agent receive qualifying offers today, per Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors. They are Yasmani Grandal and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and they'll have ten days to accept a one-year deal at $17.9MM or continue to free agency.

I suspect Grandal will reject the QO and find a new suitor to play for. Ryu, on the other hand, might be a different story. He could very well find several teams willing to fork over big bucks to sign him to a mid-term deal today, but he just as easily could accept it in hopes that a full season will garner him a better contract after 2019. So, I think the Ryu situation is a crap-shoot.

Personally, I wouldn't mid having Ryu back in Los Angeles next year, but I suspect he won't get the playing time he would want if he stays. The Dodgers remain deep at the position, and I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't afforded the opportunity to make 30 starts.

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Blog Kiosk: 11/2/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Guess who's in LA?

As you know, today is round 2 of the 'will he, or won't he' Clayton Kershaw sweepstakes, and I think it's getting clearer what the decision will be.

Clayton Kershaw was spotted at the LAFC home game yesterday with teammate Joc Pederson and funnyman Will Ferrell, and I'd be willing to bet that he'll be present for a special announcement today. So, stay tuned!

Photo above via LAFC on twitter. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1976 the Dodgers traded minor league catcher Steven Patchin to the Royals for future Baseball legend Ron Washington. He would wear Dodger Blue for only one season, 1977, getting into just ten games as a 25-year old rookie. -- he slashed .368/.400/.368/.768 with seven singles in 19 at-bats. He is more famed for being a highly regarded manager. In 1977 Tommy John comes in a distant second place in Cy Young voting -- having been beaten by Steve Carlton of the Phillies. John went 20-7 for the Dodgers with an 2.78 ERA, FIP of 3.05, eleven complete games and three shutouts.
• Happy Birthday, George Sharrott, George Bell, Jerry Standaert, Tom Paciorek, Wilson Betemit & Al Campanis!