Clayton Kerrshaw eliminated any doubt about his future with the Dodgers at the team’s World Series celebration at Dodger Stadium, when he closed out his emotional remarks to the fans in attendance with a hollered, “Dodger for life!”
Kershaw declined his player option for 2025, but is likely to go into renegotiations with the Dodgers to restructure a deal. Unlike last year, when there were some rumblings that he might be considering a final year (or two) of his career with his hometown Texas Rangers, he seems to be set on retiring with the team that drafted him.
Clayton Kershaw’s toe and knee surgeries could complicate his Dodgers return
Kershaw reiterated that he was determined to be back with the team next season, but he wasn’t able to provide a timeline to return.
There’s no way the Dodgers would ever demote Clayton Kershaw to the bullpen, but carrying him in the rotation could lead to some roster complications down the line. If Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, and Tony Gonsolin are healthy at the start of next year, and if the Dodgers re-sign Walker Buehler and/or Jack Flaherty on top of having Kershaw waiting in the wings, that’s an incredibly crowded rotation with a lot of guys who are being paid too much to be turned into long relievers. Not to mention the Dodgers might want to make way for some of the rookies — River Ryan and Emmet Sheehan, if they’re eventually healthy.
It’s hard to see how the Dodgers are going to get around this, unless they trade Gonsolin and don’t re-sign one of Buehler or Flaherty. Even then, it’s still crowded. Everyone wants to see Kershaw contribute to a World Series win and shake the postseason reputation he’s been saddled with, but his presence on the roster definitely won’t make things easy on the Dodgers.
