Kershaw isn’t leaving L.A.
Left-hander Clayton Kershaw is staying with the Dodgers, agreeing to a three-year, $93 million deal after he initially opted out and chose free agency.
The agreement was reached Friday after Kershaw opted out of a seven-year, $215 million contract that had two seasons left at a total of $65 million.
He 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. Kershaw also can earn award bonuses of $1.5 million for winning the National League Cy Young Award or $500,000 for finishing second or third in the voting.
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 consecutive season, with Kershaw taking the loss in a season-ending Game 5 against the Red Sox.
Rangers pick Woodward as manager
Dodgers third-base coach Chris Woodward is set to be named the Rangers’ next manager, a source told MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi.
Woodward has been in his role with the Dodgers the last three seasons. Before that, he worked in the Mariners’ organization as a minor-league coordinator and infield instructor after retiring as a journeyman player after the 2011 season.
He spent 12 years as an infielder for the Blue Jays, Mets, Braves, Red Sox and Mariners and was a teammate of Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre in 2009, when they were with the Mariners.
Qualifying offers for Keuchel, Harper
Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper were two of seven players to receive qualifying offers. The players who received offers have 10 days to accept a $17.9 million salary for 2019 — the mean salary of MLB’s 125 highest-paid players — or become a free agent.
The others to receive qualifying offers were Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel, Diamondbacks lefty Patrick Corbin and outfielder A.J. Pollock and Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and catcher Yasmani Grandal.
In six seasons, only five players have accepted qualifying offers out of 73 issued. A team that makes a claim is entitled to a compensatory pick in the draft.
♦ The Braves, meanwhile, didn’t extend a qualifying offer to cleanup hitter Nick Markakis, not wanting to give the outfielder — who turns 35 this month — the option of taking such a lucrative deal. Though Markakis was a first-time All-Star who hit .297 with 14 homers and 93 RBI, his production tailed off in the second half.