Dodgers pay up to keep Kershaw
Lefty signs three-year deal worth $93M with bonuses that could push it to $105M
Clayton Kershaw is staying with the Los Angeles Dodgers, agreeing to a US$93-million, three-year contract after he initially opted out and chose free agency.
The agreement was reached Friday, when Kershaw opted out of a $215-million, seven-year contract that had two seasons remaining at a total of $65 million.
The left-hander gets an additional $28 million in guaranteed money. The new agreement includes $4 million annually in performance bonuses, in four $1-million increments for 24, 26, 28 and 30 games started, which could raise the deal’s value to $105 million over three years.
He also can earn award bonuses of $1.5 million for winning the NL Cy Young Award or $500,000 for finishing second or third in the voting.
Also Friday, the Dodgers made $17.9-million qualifying offers to two of their other free agents: pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu and catcher Yasmani Grandal.
Winner of the NL Cy Young in 2011, ’13 and ’14, Kershaw was limited to 26 starts this year because of a back injury and went 9-5 with a 2.73 ERA while striking out 155. The Dodgers lost in the World Series for the second straight season, with Kershaw taking the loss in Sunday’s season-ending Game 5 defeat to Boston.
Kershaw signed his $215-million deal in January 2014, and it called for salaries of $32 million next year and $33 million in 2020. The new deal calls for a $23-million signing bonus, payable in equal instalments on June 30 in each of the next three years, and annual salaries of $23,333,333.
The money designated a signing bonus will not be subject to state income because Kershaw is a resident of Texas, which does not have a state income tax. At 30, Kershaw has experienced a fastball velocity decrease, and he missed time this season because of two stints on the disabled list. But he remains the face of the franchise and his dedicated work habits have filtered down to the younger pitchers on the staff.
Kershaw has a career 153-69 regular-season record with a 2.39 ERA in 318 games, but it’s in the post-season where his numbers drop. He’s 9-10 with a 4.32 ERA. He gave up four runs in seven innings in Game 5 of the World Series.
The Dodgers also agreed to terms with infielder David Freese on a one-year contract.
The team announced the deal Thursday night after the club option of $6 million was declined. The Dodgers will pay Freese a $500,000 buyout in addition to his new $4.5-million deal. The 35-year-old former World Series MVP joined the team in August after a trade from Pittsburgh.
The Chicago Cubs exercised their $20-million option on Cole Hamels on Friday, solidifying their rotation for next year, and traded fellow left-hander Drew Smyly to the Texas Rangers.
Hamels, who turns 35 in December, went 4-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts after he was acquired in a July 27 trade with Texas, a frequent trade partner for Chicago since Theo Epstein took over the Cubs’ front office in 2011. Had the Cubs declined the option and paid a $6-million buyout, the Rangers would have paid the Cubs an additional $6 million.
The 29-year-old Smyly is heading to Texas after missing his only year in Chicago as part of his recovery from Tommy John surgery in June 2017.
Smyly signed a $10-million, twoyear contract with Chicago last December.
He was healthy at the end of last season, but the contending Cubs ran out of time in terms of bringing him back.
The Atlanta Braves did not extend a qualifying offer to any of their free agents, including cleanup hitter Nick Markakis.
If Atlanta had made a $17.9-million, one-year offer to Markakis by Friday’s deadline, it would have been in line to receive a draft pick if he signed elsewhere. But the team opted against such a move, not wanting to give the outfielder — who turns 35 this month — the option of taking such a lucrative deal.
While Markakis was a first-time all-star who hit .297 with 14 homers and 93 RBIs, his production tailed off in the second half of the season.
The Braves also opted against qualifying offers to catcher Kurt Suzuki, starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez, starter Brandon McCarthy, infielder Ryan Flaherty and reliever Peter Moylan.
McCarthy has said he plans to retire.
The Texas Rangers declined their 2019 contract options for catcher Robinson Chirinos and three pitchers.
Chirinos, the primary starting catcher, had a $4.5-million option for next season.
That decision Friday was a bit of a surprise while the Rangers were expected to let pitchers Doug Fister, Matt Moore and Martin Perez become free agents.
General manager Jon Daniels said shortstop Elvis Andrus, at 30 and the team’s longest-tenured player with 10 seasons in Texas, wasn’t opting out of his contract. Andrus is halfway through a $120-million, eight-year deal that offered him the opportunity to opt for free agency this off-season. He also has that option next year.
Andrus hit .297 last season, when he went on the disabled list for the first time in his career. He missed two months because of a fractured right elbow after getting hit by a pitch in April.