The Los Angeles Dodgers today signed opening day starter Clayton Kershaw to a one-year contract. Kershaw, who at two years, 105 days of MLB service time is still under team control, will make $500,000 in 2011, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Kershaw will be arbitration eligible for the first time in 2012.
Back in December, I advocated on True Blue LA for the Dodgers to sign Clayton Kershaw to a multi-year contract, buying out a free agent year or two:
Kershaw is, by most accounts, the face of the Dodger franchise. He sits atop the starting rotation and will only be 23 years of age in 2011. He has just over two years of service time, meaning he still has one more year until he starts making the relative big bucks. Kershaw likes being here; how else can you explain making his recent nuptials a Dodger-themed wedding? Perhaps now that Clayton has settled down in real life, perhaps he would also like to setup roots in his career as well.
Kershaw was 13-10 with a 2.91 ERA in 2010 for the Dodgers, reaching both the 200-inning (204 1/3 innings) and 200-strikeout (212) plateau. He will start on opening day at Dodger Stadium on March 31 against Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
In other news, the Dodgers will be holding an open tryout Thursday morning at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. Fans vying for a minor league contract must bring their own uniforms to the fields, with registration at 8 a.m., with the tryouts starting at 9 a.m.. In recent years, the Dodgers have signed a few players from these tryouts, including Tim Corcoran, who is still with the organization.
For more news and information on the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.