AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
According to reports, the Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to re-sign veteran starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
There is a heavy industry expectation that he will stay with the only MLB team he has ever played for.
MLB free agency is open again after the Major League Baseball Players Association and MLB agreed to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement.
He has spent his entire 14-year MLB career with the Dodgers, establishing himself as a likely future Hall of Famer.
The lefty has a 2.49 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 2,670 strikeouts over 2,454.2 hours. He is a three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and a one-time World Series champion.
In the four years that the Cy Young Award voting was held, Kershaw won it three out of four times.
During his career, he has won 20 or more games twice, struck out 200 or more batters seven times, and posted an earned run average under 3.00 11 times.
The Dodgers won the World Series in 2020 despite the fact that they had not won a playoff game in over a decade, and that the only criticism of the pitcher was his lack of playoff success.
In the past six seasons, he has not started at least 30 games due to injuries.
He missed time with a forearm injury last season and was limited to 22 starts. The pitcher was shut down for the playoffs due to arm pain.
His production in the year was not up to his usual level, as he went 10-8 with a 3.55 earned run average and 1.02 WHIP.
It's difficult to imagine him in a uniform other than that of the Dodgers, as he can be a highly effective pitcher when healthy.
If the Dodgers do get their ace back, he will be a big part of a starting rotation that also includes Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, and possibly Trevor Bauer, who was placed on administrative leave last season amid an investigation into sexual assault allegations.
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