Dodgers bring back franchise icon, put finishing touches on monster offseason

While their latest move may not result in as many wins as the additions of two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, starting pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and power-hitting outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, Tuesday's news on franchise icon Clayton Kershaw is sure to make Dodgers fans happy.

Because Kershaw's shoulder surgery happened so early in the offseason, his injury could end up being a blessing in disguise for Los Angeles.

Though the southpaw is entering his age-36 season and has thousands of innings on his arm, asking the future Hall of Famer for closer to 100 innings is a lot more reasonable than 200 frames. With the team's roster flexibility and already-loaded group, the Dodgers can hope that they're in a good position for another pennant run by the time Kershaw returns.

This is the second straight winter where the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner's future not only in Los Angeles but on a baseball diamond, was unknown.

Kershaw and the Dodgers signed a one-year, $20M in December 2022, a deal that included a $5M signing bonus.

The 10-time All-Star opened the regular season in the middle of the Los Angeles starting rotation but later missed all of July with his shoulder issue. Last season was the eighth straight year in which Kershaw had a stint on the injured list.

The former NL MVP was solid when healthy, registering a 13-5 record with a 2.46 ERA and 1.06 WHIP across 24 starts covering 131 2/3 innings.

Kershaw faltered in the postseason yet again, however, turning in the worst outing of his career in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kershaw finished his start allowing six runs (all earned), including a home run, while walking one and recording no strikeouts. He got only one out and was removed from his start in the top of the first.

For much of the winter, it looked like that was perhaps going to be Kershaw's final MLB game, but now it looks like he may get a chance for redemption in 2024.