LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have re-signed 10-time All-Star and three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw to a one-year contract worth $7.5 million, which includes roster and games-started bonuses. To make room for Kershaw on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers have transferred right-hander River Ryan to the 60-day injured list.
Kershaw, 36, returns for his 18th season with the Dodgers, tying him with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most seasons in franchise history. He is now the second Los Angeles Dodger to play 18 or more seasons with the team, joining Bill Russell (1969-1986), and he becomes the 59th player in Major League Baseball history to have 18+ seasons with the same club. Additionally, Kershaw is the only active player in MLB with 18+ years of service with the same team.
Last season, Kershaw went 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven games before a toe injury sidelined him, leading to a stint on the 60-day injured list. He struck out 24 batters in 30 innings, bringing him closer to former teammate Zack Greinke’s total of 2,979 strikeouts for 20th all-time on the Major League strikeout list. Kershaw currently has 2,968 career strikeouts.
In his 17 seasons with Los Angeles, the left-hander has compiled a record of 212-94 with a 2.50 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He ranks second in franchise history in wins and first in ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP. Kershaw would become only the fifth player ever to strike out 3,000 batters with the same team, joining Walter Johnson (3,508 with the Washington Senators), Bob Gibson (3,117 with the St. Louis Cardinals), Steve Carlton (3,031 with the Philadelphia Phillies), and John Smoltz (3,011 with the Atlanta Braves).
The 2014 National League MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner (2011, 2013, 2014) was originally drafted by the Dodgers with the seventh overall pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Highland Park High School (TX).
