Clayton Kershaw a free agent but intends to return to Dodgers

Clayton Kershaw declines 2025 option but intends to return to Dodgers

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw stands on the field during batting practice before Game 3 of the NLCS.

Staff Writer

Nov. 4, 2024 Updated 6:49 PM PT

At the team’s World Series celebration on Friday, future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw declared himself a “Dodger for life.”

To be a Dodger next year, however, he and the team will have to work out a new contract.

Though Kershaw had a player option for around <JU>$5 million next season, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, he declined it Monday, with the Major League Baseball Players Assn. listing him as a free agent. While it’s the fourth straight offseason Kershaw will hit free agency, the veteran left-hander already said he will pitch for the Dodgers next year — a change from the last three winters, when the Dallas native considered signing with the Texas Rangers.

So, to return to Los Angeles for an 18th season, Kershaw and the team will have to strike a new agreement.

Kershaw hinted he might not opt into his current deal following the World Series parade and stadium rally on Friday, saying that he would “somehow” remain with the team and that he didn’t care about the method.

Kershaw’s current deal, which he signed last winter, would have guaranteed him $5 million for next season with the opportunity to make up to $25 million based on incentives (after 10 starts, he would have received a <JU>$1-million bonus for every start thereafter).

By opting for a new deal, Kershaw and the team can restructure his salary and/or add options for future seasons, if he wishes to keep playing beyond next year.

After missing the first four months of this past season recovering from shoulder surgery, Kershaw once again will face health questions entering next year. This week he was scheduled to undergo surgery on his left toe (to address a bone spur, arthritis and a ruptured plantar plate) and left knee (to repair a meniscus injury). Until those procedures are complete, he said, he is unsure of how long the recovery process will take.

Still, for a club that has openings in its starting rotation and has long revolved around the three-time Cy Young Award winner and former National League most valuable player, retaining Kershaw — officially — was on the Dodgers’ offseason to-do list.

And though that box remained unchecked as this week began, his return should be finalized this offseason.