Thanks to signing a record seven-year, $215 million extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw gives Dodger Blue a foundation to build on.
Kershaw, fresh from a Cy Young award-winning season, and is arguably the top pitcher in the game, and at only 25 years old, Kershaw is still growing as a pitcher, and will continue to improve.
Kershaw will earn $30.7 million per year in this deal, which is a baseball record. The deal also has an opt out clause after 5 years, so Kershaw could get another huge deal at age 30. Kershaw’s signing will not deter the big-spending Dodgers from continuing to spend big this offseason, as the team remains interested in Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who happens to have the same agent as Kershaw (Casey Close).
Kershaw will continue to be at the top of a very strong Dodgers rotation for years to come, as this signing further signifies that the Dodgers are in it to win it, no matter the cost. With Kershaw being so talented at such a young age, and now being locked in for the next seven years, the Dodgers future just got even brighter.