Kershaw and Dodgers meet almost in the middle
The Dodgers avoided salary arbitration with their ace pitcher and Opening Day starter, signing Clayton Kershaw to a two-year, $19 million contract on Feb. 7, one week before their scheduled arbitration hearing.
The southpaw won the National League Cy Young Award after winning 21 games with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 2011, winning the pitching Triple Crown by leading the NL in all three categories.
Kershaw filed for a salary of $10 million, while the Dodgers countered with a salary of $6.5 million. The two sides settled at a first-year payout barely shy of the $8.25 million midpoint.
Kershaw will be paid a $500,000 signing bonus, an $7.5 million salary in 2012 and $11 million in 2013. The $8 million total in 2012, of which $2 million is deferred to 2013, is the second highest salary ever for a pitcher in his first year of salary arbitration eligibility.
That was surpassed only by Tim Lincecum, who received an $8 million salary and $2 million signing bonus in 2010 as part of a two-year contract after winning two Cy Young Awards in his first three seasons.
"When you think about how he's 23 years old and how he's progressed as a pitcher, how he's taken his great gift and put in the work to refine it, that says a lot about him," general manager Ned Colletti said of Kershaw to the Los Angeles Times.
While a long-term contract for the left-hander remains a priority for the Dodgers, this contract buys out two of three arbitration years for Kershaw, who can become a free agent after the 2014 season.
Kershaw follows the path of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, who signed two-year contracts before the 2010 season. Kemp parlayed a near-MVP season in 2011 into an eight-year, $160 million deal this winter that covered his final arbitration year and seven years of free agency.
If Kershaw, who turns 24 in March, continues to pitch like he did in 2011, a big payday is in his future as well.
With the Kershaw signing, the Dodgers have 18 players under contract for 2012 for a total of $85.975 million.
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