As one-team players become more and more of a rarity in professional sports, the Los Angeles Dodgers have taken a big step to make sure one career star will have another chance to end his career in the same place he’s been for its entirety.
According to ESPN, the Dodgers and Kershaw agreed to a contract to bring him back to Los Angeles for an 18th season.
If there was any season in which the Dodgers might consider letting Kershaw walk, it would’ve been this one. The soon-to-be 37-year-old started just seven games last season starting on July 25, before being sidelined for the rest of the year with a ruptured plantar plate and arthritis in his foot. In those seven starts, he went just 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA, and didn’t look anything like the pitcher he’d been in years past.
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But, by bringing Kershaw back once more, in a position where they have a surplus of arms, they’re giving their longtime superstar ace a chance to contribute in whatever capacity he can, without the pressure of needing to carry a rotation on his back like he’s had to do in years past. It’s also a pretty strong, if unsurprising sign that LA wants to give him his storybook ending, to let him retire as a Dodger whenever he decides that day is coming.
Kershaw has absolutely earned the right to retire when he’s ready, too. He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball, and perhaps the best, most consistent left-handed starter in the league for the vast majority of his career. He’s won three Cy Youngs and finished in the top five of voting another three times, and also won the MVP during a 2014 campaign in which he went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA.
He’s a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame, and likely a first-ballot shoe-in as well.
On top of that, Kershaw is one of those rare players who just…fits with his team. The sort of player who you can’t picture in another uniform, who would look profoundly strange in anything other than Dodger Blue. Think Derek Jeter with the Yankees, or Barry Larkin with the Reds, or Chipper Jones with the Braves.
And now, by bringing him back for another run, the Dodgers are showing that they’re going to make sure Kershaw won’t wear anything but Dodger blue until he hangs up his cleats.
