With pitchers and catchers officially reporting to Spring Training, the Los Angeles Dodgers are now able to put players on the 60-day injured list.
The Dodgers have been in a roster crunch for much of the offseason, which led to them trading Gavin Lux and designating Ryan Brasier for assignment.
With the additional 40-man roster spots forthcoming, the Dodgers have reportedly agreed to re-sign Clayton Kershaw, according to Alden González of ESPN:
Clayton Kershaw is at the Dodgers facility playing catch. He and the Dodgers have agreed to terms on a new contract, per source, though he still has to finish going through his physical.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) February 11, 2025
Although Kershaw’s contract is not yet official, he was among Dodgers pitchers participating in Tuesday’s workout at Camelback Ranch.
The expectation all offseason was that Kershaw would return to the Dodgers, but they were waiting for Spring Training to start, allowing them to have the additional roster space. The southpaw has also been taking one-year deals each offseason to not commit to more years than he wants to play, instead making a decision on his future after each season.
Because Kershaw remained a free agent, the Dodgers did not publicly guarantee he would be back, but it was an open secret that the two sides would get a deal done. Kershaw repeatedly made it clear he would re-sign and even joked that he lost all his leverage by making that known.
Kershaw underwent surgeries on his left foot and left knee during the offseason. One was to address a bone spur in his toe and the other was for a torn meniscus in the knee.
It was the second consecutive offseason that he underwent surgery. The previous year, he had surgery of his left shoulder, which is still in good standing.
Due to the injuries he battled through, Kershaw went 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA, 3.53 FIP and 1.50 WHIP in 30 innings pitched this year. It was the first time since his rookie season in 2008 that he posted an ERA above 4.00.
He is not expected to pitch until later in the season, so he is likely to end up on the 60-day IL as well.
Dodgers rotation options with Clayton Kershaw
Kershaw joins a talented and deep rotation on the Dodgers that also includes Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May.
Shohei Ohtani is also expected to return to the mix by May, and Emmet Sheehan should be an option at some point down the line as well, along with Kershaw.
Some of their depth pitchers include Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Ben Casparius and potentially Michael Grove.
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