Clayton Kershaw happy to continue career with Dodgers
Last season, the Dodgers won 111 games. They had a Cy Young Award finalist. They boasted the best rotation earned-run average in Major League Baseball.
Still, as this offseason has progressed, their need for more starting pitching has been clear.
And though they did the expected Monday morning, officially re-signing Clayton Kershaw to a one-year, $20-million contract on the first day of the league’s winter meetings, they failed to pull off the spectacular, losing out in the Justin Verlander sweepstakes after news broke that the free-agent pitcher will be signing with the New York Mets.
Kershaw’s return had been in the works for weeks, ever since news emerged last month that the sides were close to a deal that would keep the three-time Cy Young Award winner in Los Angeles for a 16th season.
Though the Dallas native again considered signing with his hometown Texas Rangers, he said he and his wife, Ellen, decided pretty quickly into the offseason to return to the Dodgers. He added that the only reason his contract hadn’t been finalized sooner was that he had been “procrastinating” getting MRI exams to complete his physical.
“It just feels great to come back,” he said. “I feel like this is where we needed to be. This is where we want to be. And it just feels like we’re not done yet.”
Fred McGriff is a Hall of Famer and forever a Tom Emanski ambassador
SAN DIEGO — Fred McGriff, elected to the Hall of Fame on Sunday, traveled to the winter meetings for a press conference Monday, and he came through with a throwback.
If you’re a baseball fan of a certain age, those Tom Emanski commercials are seared in your memory. Nobody actually bought Emanski’s defensive training videos — even McGriff in 2021 said he’s never seen one — but they must have been the real deal for his teams to win back-to-back-back AAU national titles.
Clayton Kershaw mulls decision on whether to pitch for Team USA in WBC
SAN DIEGO—Clayton Kershaw’s one-year, $20-million deal to remain with the Dodgers, which was officially announced on Monday, seemed like a harmonic convergence of club and player in the eyes of Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations.
“I think all things are right in the world,” Friedman said on the first day of baseball’s winter meetings, “when Kersh is wearing Dodger blue.”
Kershaw, however, might want to expand his wardrobe by wearing some red, white and blue next spring. The veteran left-hander, who turns 35 in March, said he is considering pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
“We’re still working through some things there,” Kershaw said on a video call. “Obviously, it would be a huge honor to do that. I just started throwing, so I’m trying to figure out how I’m feeling. And obviously, I’ve got to talk to Mark [Prior, pitching coach] and Andrew. I’m still a little ways away from making that call.
Friedman said he has discussed the WBC with Kershaw, the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner who turns 35 in March.
The concern for starting pitchers participating in the WBC is the early ramp-up required to throw in competitive games beginning on March 11, a full three weeks before the start of the regular season.
Kershaw missed two months of the 2022 season because of lower-back strains and suffered an elbow strain late in 2021 that knocked him out of the playoffs. His age and injury history might put him at a greater risk for a setback in the WBC.
“I think, first and foremost, it’s an incredible event, and I think a lot of guys are extremely motivated to play for their country, which I totally understand,” Friedman said. “Looking at it through my lens, yeah, there are guys that you know, dialing it up that early, is a little bit concerning.
“But someone like Kersh, just knowing far enough in advance and preparing and planning for it, I think is really important. If it came up in the middle of January, like, ‘Hey, two months from now, you’re gonna be pitching,’ that would be really tough. But I think knowing about it early enough, he can kind of script his offseason workouts and throwing program to fit that timeline.”
Shohei Ohtani makes All-MLB team as a pitcher and hitter
SAN DIEGO — Angels stars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout are on this season’s All-MLB teams.
Ohtani on Monday made the lists as a pitcher (first team) and a designated hitter (second team).
Mookie Betts and Trea Turner of the Dodgers also made the first team. Turner reportedly will sign a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Last season, Ohtani claimed first-team honors at DH and second-team honors as a pitcher.
The All-MLB honors are one of few awards for the 2021 American League most valuable player, who finished second to the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge in MVP voting this season. Ohtani did repeat as Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award winner.
Trout claimed first-team honors for the third time in his career.
Three Dodgers — Will Smith, Freddie Freeman and Julio Urías — made the second team.
New Angels reliever Carlos Estévez could get late-inning opportunities
SAN DIEGO — The Angels have picked up another arm for their bullpen during the winter meetings.
Free-agent right-handed pitcher Carlos Estévez on Monday signed a two-year deal worth $13.5 million with the team.
The Angels bullpen, to a certain extent, lacked power, general manager Perry Minasian said. Estévez’s “pure stuff,” as Minasian referred, along with his personality, are good fits for a wide-open bullpen.
Minasian hinted that Estévez could get opportunities to pitch in the eighth and ninth innings, but clarified that manager Phil Nevin would decide when Estévez would come in.
Estévez’s addition at the least gives the Angels more relief options, especially for those late innings.
Estévez, who spent all of his previous six seasons in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies, has some closing experience.
Estévez had two saves in 2022 and has 25 along with a 4.59 ERA in his career.
Asked whether he thinks Estévez has closer potential, Rockies manager Bud Black said: “We haven’t needed Carlos to really step up to be that closer, but he does have, for me, closer potential.”
He had his best season in 2022 in terms of earned-run average, 3.47, which he accumulated over 62 games and 57 innings. He struck out 54 batters and walked 23. Those numbers were improvements from previous seasons — the last time he pitched to a sub-3.00 ERA was in 2019, the season he logged his most games, 71, and innings pitched, 72.0, struck out a career-high 81 and walked 23.
Black also said that the Rockies were still trying to convince Estévez to return when the Angels reached out to him about the reliever.
Cody Bellinger is a free agent. Though it’s unlikely, he could still return to Dodgers
The Dodgers had until 5 p.m. on Nov. 18 to decide whether to tender Cody Bellinger, the 2019 National League MVP, a contract for the 2023 season.
It shouldn’t have been much of a decision. Bellinger won that MVP award, solidifying his standing as a superstar, three years ago this week. He’s 27 years old. This is the physical prime of his career. Choosing to keep him should’ve been a formality.
But Bellinger has strayed so far from that peak over the last three seasons that the Dodgers weren’t sure if he was worth paying what he was expected to earn through arbitration in 2023.
In the end, the Dodgers decided Bellinger, hampered by injuries the last two years, strayed too far off and didn’t tender him a contract for next season, making him a free agent.
Angels sign reliever Carlos Estévez to two-year deal
SAN DIEGO — The Angels have picked up another arm for their bullpen during the winter meetings.
Free-agent right-handed pitcher Carlos Estévez on Monday signed a two-year deal worth $13.5 million with the team.
Estévez spent all of his previous six seasons in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies.
He had his best season in 2022 in terms of earned-run average, 3.47, which he accumulated over 62 games and 57 innings. He struck out 54 batters.
Estévez had two saves in 2022 and has 25 along with a 4.59 ERA in his career.
Evaluating the Dodgers’ shortstop options
In the wake of the Trea Turner news this morning, revisiting this story from last month’s GM meetings:
It’s been a long time since the Dodgers have had a hole at shortstop.
Between six strong seasons from Corey Seager and a productive season from Trea Turner, the club has been able to count on All-Star-level performance at the position for much of the past decade.
Of the many reasons the Dodgers have remained annual World Series contenders in recent seasons, their shortstop play has ranked near the top.
Yasiel Puig makes an appearance at the winter meetings
SAN DIEGO — Once in a while, players looking for a job surface at the winter meetings to talk to teams in person. Usually, however, they don’t arrive with legal baggage after being all but blacklisted from Major League Baseball. But Yasiel Puig arrived at the Manchester Grand Hyatt with his agent Monday — wearing a Dodgers T-shirt — anyway.
Puig, 31, recently surfaced in the news for agreeing to plead guilty to a charge of lying to federal investigators in a sports betting probe before withdrawing the plea agreement last week.
“We’re looking to see if something surfaces,” Puig said in Spanish, “but I can’t comment on anything.”
The outfielder, who spent his first six seasons in the majors with the Dodgers, hasn’t played for a major league team since suiting up for the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians in 2019.
He reportedly agreed to a contract in 2020 with the Atlanta Braves, but tested positive for COVID-19 before the deal became official and didn’t appear in a game. He signed with a team in the Mexican league in 2021 and played in Korea this year.
Puig finding a home in the majors is a long shot.
Last December, the Washington Post reported he secretly settled two lawsuits from women who accused him of sexual assault in 2017 when he played for the Dodgers. In March, ESPN reported that MLB investigators interviewed a woman who claimed Puig sexually assaulted her at a Lakers game at Staples Center in October 2018.
The legal troubles have kept major league teams away, and that likely won’t change.
Clayton Kershaw on the decision to return to Dodgers, and pitching in the World Baseball Classic
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw spoke with reporters after the announcement of his one-year contract that ensures the left-hander will return for a 16th season with the Dodgers.
He touched on the decision to return, and also talked about the possibility of pitching in the World Baseball Classic next year.
Clayton Kershaw will get $20 million in one-year deal with Dodgers
SAN DIEGO — Last season, the Dodgers won 111 games. They had a Cy Young Award finalist. They boasted the best rotation earned-run average in Major League Baseball.
Still, as this offseason has progressed, their need for more starting pitching has been clear.
And while they did the expected Monday morning, officially re-signing Clayton Kershaw to a one-year, $20-million contract on the first day of the league’s winter meetings, they failed to pull off the spectacular, losing out in the Justin Verlander sweepstakes after news broke that the free-agent pitcher will be signing with the New York Mets.
Kershaw’s return had been in the works for weeks, ever since news emerged last month that the sides were close to a deal that would keep the three-time Cy Young Award in Los Angeles for a 16th season.
The only reason his contract hadn’t been finalized sooner was because of scheduling for a physical, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Trea Turner signing with Phillies, bringing his Dodgers tenure to an end
SAN DIEGO — Trea Turner’s time in Los Angeles is coming to an end.
After spending the past season and a half with the Dodgers, the All-Star shortstop is signing an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, according to multiple media reports.
Because the Dodgers had extended Turner a qualifying offer, they will recoup a compensation draft pick next year. The selection will come after the fourth round.
Turner’s departure doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Though he played well with the Dodgers after a trade to Los Angeles at the 2021 deadline, he and the team never came close to negotiating an extension this past year. Once he reached the open market this winter, it was doubtful the club would be willing to go all-in in a bidding war for his services.
Indeed, the length and total value Turner’s deal with the Phillies surpassed what many around the sport expected for a player who turns 30 next season — and was far beyond what the Dodgers likely would have been comfortable committing to the shortstop.
Now, the team will have to find his replacement. There are several other big names on the free-agent market, including Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts. They could explore a trade, though it’s unclear how many legitimate starting shortstops might be available this winter. Or, they could go with their in-house option and slide Gavin Lux from second base back to his natural position at short.
Long before Monday, the team had been preparing for such circumstances. Now, the Dodgers know for sure that Turner won’t be staying in the Southland.
Justin Verlander signs with Mets over Dodgers
SAN DIEGO — Minutes after the Dodgers announced they re-signed Clayton Kershaw on Monday morning, the world found out the team fell short on signing another future Hall of Famer.
Justin Verlander, a fellow three-time Cy Young Award winner, decided to sign with the New York Mets over the Dodgers. He agreed to a two-year, $86-million deal with an option for a third year, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The Dodgers targeted Verlander to bolster their rotation, which will be without Walker Buehler for perhaps the entire 2023 season. Verlander turns 40 in February, but he posted a 1.75 ERA across 175 innings for the Houston Astros last season before helping the club win its second World Series in six seasons.
As it stands, the Dodgers’ rotation is Kershaw, Julio Urías, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May after the club saw Tyler Anderson sign with the Angels earlier in the offseason. Andrew Heaney, a starter for them last season, remains a free agent.
The Dodgers will now have to pivot — whether it’s to another starting pitcher or another department remains to be seen.
Commentary: With Arte Moreno selling the Angels, it’s time to spend big on these free agents
Arte Moreno is headed for the exit, the Angels owner planting a for-sale sign under the Big A in August. Shohei Ohtani could follow Moreno out of town, the two-way phenom poised to become a free agent after the 2023 season.
If ever there was a time for the Angels to act boldly, to take a high-risk, potentially high-reward swing in the market, it is now. Their mantra as baseball’s winter meetings begin Sunday in San Diego should be this: Go big or go home.
What have they got to lose, except another chance to send two of the greatest players in baseball history — three-time American League most valuable player Mike Trout and Ohtani, the game’s marquee attraction — to the playoffs?
Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers finalize one-year deal
SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers’ first piece of business during this year’s annual winter meetings?
Officially re-signing their longest-tenured player.
On Monday morning, the team announced it had finalized a one-year contract with pitcher Clayton Kershaw worth $20 million for the 2023 season, officially ensuring the three-time Cy Young Award winner will stay in Los Angeles for a 16th season.
Kershaw’s return had been expected for weeks, ever since news emerged last month that the sides were close to a deal for the free-agent pitcher.
The only reason his contract hadn’t been finalized sooner was because of scheduling for a physical, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Welcome back to the winter meetings
SAN DIEGO — Welcome to the winter meetings. Finally.
It’s been three years since Major League Baseball last held its annual convention/rumor mill churner/schmoozefest in person. It was held in San Diego that year. This year, we’re back. And a busy week is expected.
Jacob deGrom signed a massive five-year, $185-million contract with the Texas Rangers on Friday, leaving the New York Mets behind, but a bunch of high-profile free agents remains. Will Aaron Judge remain in New York? Where does Carlos Rodón go? What about the four top-tier shortstops (Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson)?
The Dodgers and Turner are open to a reunion, but aren’t likely to meet at the right price. Turner’s suitors include the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. If Turner signs elsewhere, the Dodgers could choose to move Gavin Lux to shortstop, pursue another premier shortstop via free agency or acquire a cheaper veteran to play the position.
The Dodgers have already made two significant moves, re-signing Clayton Kershaw to a one-year contract and non-tendering former MVP Cody Bellinger. A reunion with Bellinger remains possible, but the center fielder is testing the market. Someone else to keep an eye on: Justin Turner, who is a free agent for the second time in two years.
The Angels, meanwhile, have already been busy. They signed left-hander Tyler Anderson away from the Dodgers and traded for outfielder Hunter Renfroe and utilityman Gio Urshela.
With Shohei Ohtani entering his walk year, the Angels can always do more to compete in a loaded American League West. Will they? The answer could come this week in San Diego.