Clayton Kershaw spreads holiday cheer to Dodgers fans with new deal

According to multiple reports, Kershaw's new deal is for one year and is worth $20 million, including a $5 million signing bonus. It was first reported in mid-November that Kershaw would be returning to Los Angeles, but the contract wasn't made official until Monday.

Prior to the lefty electing to return to the only MLB club he's known, it had been reported that he would likely either be staying in L.A. or going to the Texas Rangers. While the Rangers missed out on the three-time NL Cy Young award winner in Kershaw, they made a major addition in signing two-time NL Cy Young award honoree Jacob deGrom on Friday.

The New York Mets quickly replaced deGrom at the top of their rotation with Justin Verlander on Monday.

Like deGrom, Kershaw is 34 years old and has a well-chronicled injury history. He finished the 2022 regular season with a 12-3 record, 2.28 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 137 strikeouts across 126 1/3 innings pitched in 22 starts.

This past campaign was the second straight year where Kershaw was limited to 22 starts, and he hasn't reached 30 starts or 200 innings pitched since 2015. Since it's just a one-year deal, it's far from a guarantee that the future Hall of Famer ends up spending his entire career with the Dodgers, but Monday's news surely makes that possibility much stronger.