The Los Angeles Dodgers and franchise legend Clayton Kershaw have reportedly agreed to terms on a contract for the 2025 season, which will be the decorated left-hander’s 18th in the majors and with the Dodgers. The Athletic reports that the deal is pending a physical.
Kershaw, who turns 37 in March, is coming off an injury-compromised 2024 season in which he pitched to a 4.50 ERA in 30 innings spread across seven starts. While injuries have been the norm for him in recent years, he’s also mostly been quite effective when able to take the mound, last season’s results notwithstanding. Over the past three seasons, for instance, Kershaw has an ERA+ of 160 and an FIP of 3.34 in 53 combined starts. The three-time Cy Young winner will enter the 2025 season with 212 wins and a WAR of 76.5, which makes him an obvious first-ballot Hall of Famer when that time comes. Kershaw has been a part of the Dodgers organization since they drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2006.
Back with the reigning-champion Dodgers, Kershaw will join an overstuffed rotation. Right now, their six-man arrangement includes Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May. As well, reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani, who’s coming off a hybrid Tommy John procedure, may be ready to return to the mound by May. That’s uncommon depth, but it’s a rotation also shot through with injury risk. That of course describes Kershaw at this stage of his career too.
The expectation is that his body won’t allow him to carry a heavy workload, but the Dodgers probably won’t need that from him.
Thanks to the Dodgers’ returning core and their offseason additions of talents like Snell and Sasaki, Kershaw goes into 2025 with a real chance of picking up his third career World Series ring.
