Source: Kershaw, Dodgers agree to 18th season

Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to terms on a new contract that will bring the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner back to the team for an 18th season, a source told ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez on Tuesday.

The deal is pending a physical, the source said.

Kershaw, who turns 37 in March, had foot and knee surgeries in November after he was limited to just seven games last season. He made his season debut July 25 and pitched 30 innings before reporting damage to his toe, which turned out to be a ruptured plantar plate and arthritis in his left foot.

He didn’t pitch in the postseason, finishing 2024 with a 2-2 record and a 4.50 ERA.

He has been a mainstay in the Dodgers’ rotation, spending his entire MLB career in Los Angeles, and is just 32 strikeouts shy of reaching 3,000 for his career.

For 17 seasons, Kershaw has established himself as one of the most monumental figures in the franchise’s illustrious history. He won three Cy Young Awards and an MVP, made 10 All-Star teams, became the all-time leader in strikeouts — he’s just 32 away from reaching 3,000 for his career — and accumulated the second-most wins (212).

Kershaw pitched on one-year contracts in 2022 and 2023 before signing an incentive-laden $5 million deal for 2024 that included a 2025 option for $10 million, which he declined. With incentives, he earned $7.5 million in 2024.