Advertisement

Could Clayton Kershaw be baseball’s first $200-million pitcher?

Share via

How would you like to be Clayton Kershaw? He’s young, talented, intelligent, highly competitive, charitable, mature beyond his years and rich.

And on the cusp of being a whole lot richer.

Kershaw is currently in the middle of a two-year, $19-million contract. That’s more money than most can imagine ever spending, though they have plenty of fun trying.

Yet it could prove to be only one-tenth the value of his next deal.

ESPN’s Buster Olney said in a video blog that Kershaw is “absolutely set up to be the first $200-million pitcher in baseball history.”

Advertisement

Now that goes just a little against Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter’s aversion to signing starters to long-term deals -- “pitchers break” -- but it could very well happen. And the force in pushing the price to the baseball stratosphere could prove to be the Dodgers themselves.

The current record contract for a starting pitcher is the seven-year, $161-million deal the Yankees signed CC Sabathia to in 2009. Some, however, think free-agent right-hander Zack Greinke could break that barrier before he signs this winter.

One team looking at signing Greinke is the Dodgers. Now whether you actually believe Greinke is a super elite pitcher worthy of a record-breaking contract is not really the point. The market will determine his price. And right now the one club no other team wants to get into a bidding war with is the Dodgers and their magic printing plates.

Advertisement

Kershaw has a lot more to offer than Greinke. He’s 4½ years younger, he’s left-handed, has superior numbers across the board and has proven he can handle the pressure in a major market.

Kershaw told The Times’ Dylan Hernandez back in August he was open to discussing a long-term deal with the Dodgers, and General Manager Ned Colletti told Hernandez earlier this month they would probably address it at the end of the current free-agency signing period.

Kershaw is signed through the coming season, then eligible for one more year of arbitration before he could become a free agent after the 2014 season. The only urgency is, the longer they wait, the more it could cost to sign him.

Advertisement

There is always a health risk in signing a pitcher to a long-term deal. And last September, Kershaw battled a hip issue that forced him to miss a start against the Giants, and for awhile, some worried it would require surgery.

But Kershaw battled back and pitched very well, posting a 0.64 ERA in his final four starts. After winning the National League Cy Young award in 2011, he finished second last season, going 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.

He doesn’t turn 25 until March, a wealthy young man set to become a whole lot wealthier.

ALSO:

Dodgers’ proposed TV deal has baseball world in uproar

Daily Dodger in Review: Andre Ethier, is there still more?

Remembrance: Marvin Miller was a transformative figure in sports

Advertisement
Advertisement