Clayton Kershaw Agrees to New Contract With Los Angeles Dodgers, Pending Physical

The 2024 season was a rough one for Kershaw, who posted career lows across the board. In just seven starts, he went 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.3 WAR. Most of that damage was dealt in his final two appearances of the season in August, before which he was riding high with a 2.63 ERA, 1.250 WHIP and 0.3 WAR.

Kershaw was not able to take the mound in the playoffs, but he still claimed his second career World Series ring after the Dodgers bested the New York Yankees in five games.

For his career, Kershaw is 212-94 with a 2.50 ERA, 1.010 WHIP and a 76.5 WAR. He currently has 2,968 strikeouts, leaving him just 32 shy of becoming the 20th player ever to reach 3,000.

It isn't as if Kershaw's prime is that far in his rear-view mirror, considering he made the All-Star Game in both 2022 and 2023. Between those two seasons, Kershaw went 25-8 with a 2.37 ERA, 1.004 WHIP, 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 7.3 WAR in 46 starts.

The 10-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young won't have to carry a heavy load on his shoulders in 2025 either, based on all the moves the Dodgers have made elsewhere on the pitching staff.

Cy Young winner Blake Snell and burgeoning Japanese ace Roki Sasaki were brought in to replace Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty, while Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Shohei Ohtani are all poised to return from injury. Even with Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and River Ryan still sidelined, Kershaw will be one of eight starters the Dodgers have to work with once Ohtani is cleared.

Kershaw has made $298.7 million over the course of his big league career, so this new deal will make him the seventh player in MLB history to clear $300 million in on-field earnings.