Longtime face of the franchise Clayton Kershaw reunited with the Dodgers earlier this week on a two-year deal, ending the uncertainty that lingered surrounding the southpaw’s future throughout the offseason. Kershaw recently spoke to reporters, including Juan Toribio of MLB.com, regarding the difficult decisions he had to make this offseason regarding surgery and his future as a player.
As relayed by Toribio, Kershaw noted that thoughts of retirement weighed heavily on him for the first time in his career, and that he took his time deciding whether or not to undergo shoulder surgery, which he indicated was necessary to continue his career but wouldn’t have been required from him to partake in day-to-day activities such as catch with his children. Toribio added that Kershaw’s difficult start against the Diamondbacks during Game 1 of the NLDS, where he surrendered six runs while recording just one out, played a role in the southpaw’s decision to return to the Dodgers for a 17th season in the majors.
Toribio indicates that potentially parting ways with the only club he’s pitched for as a professional and pitching for his hometown Rangers held some appeal for Kershaw, but that ultimately the Dodgers’ flurry of activity this offseason played a role in convincing the veteran lefty to remain in L.A. for the 2024 campaign.
“This offseason has been pretty amazing to watch, honestly. There’s definitely a part of me that wanted to be a part of that,” Kershaw told reporters, as relayed by Toribio.
Kershaw isn’t expected to return to a big league mound until the late summer, with Toribio noting that “sometime in July” is the earliest he could pitch for L.A. in 2024. The left-hander is currently slated to ramp his throwing progression up sometime next month and will join the team on homestands during his rehab. The club’s offseason overhaul of their pitching staff leaves them with plenty of options to hold down the fort in the starting rotation during Kershaw’s absence. Though right-hander Walker Buehler is expected to start the season on the injured list, offseason additions Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and James Paxton are currently slated to pitch in the rotation alongside sophomore righty Bobby Miller and an addition young arm such as Emmet Sheehan or Gavin Stone come the start of the regular season.
More from around the NL West…
- The Padres brought in left-hander Wandy Peralta on a four-year deal earlier this week, but The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports that this is hardly the first time the club has pursued the veteran southpaw. According to Lin, San Diego’s interest in Peralta dates back to the 2023 trade deadline. At the time, the lefty was subject to some trade speculation as the Yankees toyed with dealing pending free agents due to them sitting at fifth place in the AL East at the time of the trade deadline despite a decent 55-51 record. Ultimately, of course, no deal came together for the lefty, who went on to struggle to a 4.30 ERA and 6.46 FIP down the stretch last year. Looking ahead to 2024, Peralta figures to be part of San Diego’s late inning mix alongside the likes of Yuki Matsui and Robert Suarez as the bullpen looks to bounce back from the loss of Josh Hader earlier this winter.
- The Giants hired recently-retired Astros manager Dusty Baker in a special assistant role last month, and the longtime skipper spoke to reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) in Houston recently about his move to San Francisco. Baker indicated that while Houston remains a “second home” to him, a key factor in his decision to join the Giants is the club’s proximity to Sacramento, his hometown. “Getting older, you start thinking about enjoying your life, enjoying your grandchildren,” Baker said, as relayed by McTaggart. “But I still have something, you know, to give to the game and make a living in a part-time capacity.” Baker’s hiring in San Francisco is a homecoming in more ways than one, as he served as manager of the Giants for ten seasons, from 1993 to 2002. He won three NL Manager of the Year awards throughout his tenure with the Giants and led the team to a World Series appearance in his final year with the club.
letsgooakland123
Giants gotta get moving if they want to field a competitive team in this division. They’re way on the Rockies side of things as opposed to the Padres/Dbacks/Dodgers
Ernie Riles
A’s gotta get moving if they want to field a….never mind
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Ernie
A’s gotta get moving if they want a field.
Let’s just say they’ll be a “Gap” in the standings.
(Fixed it for you)
letsgooakland123
haha!
Rsox
A’s need to get moving if they want a home next season…
Jean Matrac
letsgooakland123, You’re overrating both the D’backs and the Padres.
letsgooakland123
uh as long as you agree that they’re both better than Colorado, I think it makes sense to say that the Giants are closer to the Rockies than those two teams
BabeRuthsPiano
They will finishing ahead of Rockies but I don’t see them being to far away from the Padres. They have done nothing this offseason while losing Hader, Snell and Soto
Jean Matrac
letsgooakland123, I don’t have a lot of faith in projections, but they do give a generalized appraisal that most of the time isn’t too wildly inaccurate.
The ZiPS projected NL standings estimate the D’backs at 84-78, the Giants at 82-80, the Padres at 79-83, and. the Rockies at 67-95.
Neither of those teams appear to be particularly good, so like I said, you’re overrating AZ and SD, And SF appears to be closer to AZ and SD than Col.
James Wogan
Jean Matrac, You do realize the Dbacks were in the World Series last season and have even improved their roster since last season, right?
Jean Matrac
James Wogan, No, I didn’t know that. Really” The D’backs were in the WS? Holy cow!
Seriously, do you realize the D’backs were only 6 games over .500, were tied for the last playoff spot with the Marlins, and had a -15 run differential?
They were lucky with injuries last season, and the pieces they’ve added, ERod and Joc, are hardly huge improvements.
The reality is they are a probable, perhaps marginal, WC competitor. Fangraphs playoff odds has them at 40.4% to clinch a WC spot, which is second best, but hardly a lock, with a 2.6% chance of winning the WS.
Tigers3232
The DBacks are loaded with young talent. ERod is an improvement and the Pederson signing I still find bewildering. But I think they re still being underestimated.
Candlestoked
Just about every team is loaded with young talent. Giants, too. Armed and dangerous!
Jean Matrac
The trouble with young talent, for both D’backs and Giants, is there tends to be regression after a good season. I expect to see that same regression for the Orioles. The D’backs were very lucky last season, both with injuries, and that very few teams with a negative run differential make it to the WS.
Tigers3232
I was speaking of young talent thats performed on MLB level. Dbacks had one regular in lineup age 30 or over. Giants had Bailey, Estrada, Wade, and Matos saw some time.
Giants farm system recently ranked 23rd just ahead of Rockies at 24. Whereas LAD was 3rd and DBacks 4th. Padres ranked 18th, but they just piled in quite a few prospects.
Well every team has young talent, I’m just not seeing that bright of a future at the moment. I wish there was I’d love to see NL West turn to AL East and LAD have to start fighting to contend for division. Unfortunately it looks to me like it’s LAD the 2nd and 3rd between DBacks/Padres. While SF and COL scraping the bottom.
On the bright side I could see SF bouncing back in a season or 2. They seem more than willing to spend $ to plug holes. Hopefully instead of one star they spread it out get 3 or 4 solid guys anchor the young talent they have.
Tigers3232
How are you lumping O’s with DBacks for regression? O’S had one rookie is lineup on a regular basis.
The O’s were without Means for most of season. O’Hearn, Mullins, and Mount Mountcastle all missed time. They ve added Burnes.
Just not seeing this young recession. They have Adley going into year 3, Gunnar going into 2nd season although he played almost 35 games also in 2022. Bradish might step back a bit in year 3 or could just as easily progress further. Other than that there’s Grayson whose 1st year was so so and more than likely pitches similar to last season if not better.
As for the rest of O’s regulars, nobody really had career years or anything. I’m just not seeing them as regression candidates.
Jean Matrac
The Orioles are still young though. Their position players are the 8th youngest in MLB. But the regression I see for the Orioles isn’t just because of young guys. Do you really see them winning 101 games, or close to that again? I think they’ll still be good, and have a good shot at the division, but see them doing that with 9, 10, or 11 fewer wins.
Jean Matrac
Which rankings are you looking at? The MLB mid-season rankings, their most recent, have the Giants at 14, the D’backs at 12, and the Padres at 9.
But to get a sense about the accuracy of rankings, or lack of, Bleacher Report has the Giants at 21, the Padres at 9, but the D’backs way down at 26.
So no one really knows who is going to perform once promoted. There are many former all-star players that were never ranked as a top 100 prospect.
Tigers3232
theathletic.com/5258158/2024/02/09/mlb-farm-system…
I’m not saying prospect rankings are wrote in stone. These are developing players. Many have talent but just doesn’t translate as they move up through levels. However, I’d say currently they re doing a much better job assessing and ranking talent then ever before. Not that they re doing a superior job. Just tools and resources nake doing so much easier.
Tigers3232
The O’s were ties for 5th with Astros in run differential last year. Their weakest part was starting pitching. Getting Meand back and adding Burnes makes their pitching much better. Grayson Rodriguez also has the talent to truly breakout.
I just think any regression in lineup should easily be offset by gains in pitching. Like I stated before that lineup had quite a few games missed as well.
Holliday should be with the team possibly even out of Spring Training. The only concern I’d have if I was O’s fan is if Adley can sustain his workload. Catching 110 games and DHing another 44. He’s young but obviously catching takes a toll on a players body.
filihok
lgo
Those are some weird sides
I see 3 tiers
Dodgers
Padres/Giants/DBacks
Rockies
The Voices
Retire, clayton. No more!!!
skip 2
I’m sure money is the last thing on his mind!
The Voices
Retire, clayton. No more choke jobs!!!
filihok
SiK
Muted
fox471 Dave
Dumb take but taking into account your residence.
I.M. Insane
He wants his 3,000 strikeouts. Speaking of, where’s Greinke?
gbs42
Wait, Kershaw (again) considered signing with the Rangers? Somebody tell legendaryharamabe, or whatever his handle is.
LordD99
It’s one of the most ridiculous rumors every year. He’s retiring a Dodger.
gbs42
I agree he’s at least 99.9% likely to pitch for no other team, but Kershaw himself has said previously the Rangers were a possibility.
BlueSkies_LA
The only chance is if the Dodgers don’t offer him a contract, and since that was never going to happen, there goes your 0.1%.
I.M. Insane
Like when Mo Rivera got an offer from Boston. No way he was taking it. But it makes for a good story.
mrpadre19
Maybe check ZIPS again “after” the Padres fill their 40 man roster.
Preller is not done.
filihok
Mrp
“Maybe check ZIPS again “after” ”
I mean, yes. After teams make changes, it’s always good to reassess where they are
llokokokok
Good point?
Cam
Yeah, Preller has plenty of time to harm the Padres further.
filihok
C
I mean
That’s technically true
But, since he built a good team it seems unlikely
Jean Matrac
mrpadre19, I think SD will exceed the ZiPS projection somewhat, But I don’t expect them to add much to the roster. Preller doesn’t have the same mandate as before. He’ll add marginal pieces, but I’d be surprised if they bring back Snell, or make any comparable move.