Clayton Kershaw and his wife Ellen are promoting their book this week, Arise: Live Out Your Faith and Dreams on Whatever Field You Find Yourself. Roberto Baly (and his baby boy!) of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy caught up with them at a book signing this weekend.
Kershaw and his wife are scheduled to meet with the media on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. Just thinking out loud here, if Kershaw and the Dodgers were to agree to a multi-year contract extension, right around the time the two sides would file salary figures for arbitration, a Tuesday press conference would the perfect time to announce such a thing.
Maybe I'm just feeling optimistic on a Monday. But even if Kershaw doesn't join Matt Kemp in the long-term crew this year, there is still plenty of time to get a deal done, as Kershaw has three years before hitting free agency. I have to imagine that one of the top baseball priorities of whatever new ownership comes in on April 30 will be to lock up the ace.
0 recs | 61 comments
he should’ve gotten lester money, instead he’ll get verlander money. i don’t care either way, as long as his money is dodger blue.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
here here!
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
I do wonder if he’ll accept Monopoly 50s, though.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
do a reverse trick
Take a stack of hundreds and wrap them in Monopoly 50s
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
did that woman ever get back to you with an agency name?
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
she told me she would call you
I see she has not yet
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
You are correct
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
I am displeased
I’ll ask her about the name of the agency today.
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
You’re the man.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
I do my best :)
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
If only
he drank Dr Pepper :)
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
quiet you! :)
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
I'm such a fan of the Rays doing what they have done with their young players
It’s too bad we didn’t do something like one of those contracts with Kershaw.
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
yet….
VeroJoe - January 16, 2012
he means giving kershaw a 20mil/6 year deal the day he stepped into the MLB Dodgers uniform.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Of course it's crazy to do it for almost every player
The thing that sucks is Kershaw was clearly a pitcher that would have been worth rolling the dice of a multi million dollar contract early on.
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
Its way too late to do it the way the Rays did. You could do it with, say, Sands or Jansen, but for Kershaw its long past that point.
EMDarrow - January 16, 2012
even jansen has about a year and a half more service time than Longoria or moore had.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Sands or Dee would be the ones.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
I'm curious what people think
what’s the longest term contract you’d be comfortable with?
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Career :)
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
but like, he’s 23 (?), if you gave him a 16 year, $300mil contract, it’s a HUGE risk, but if he stays healthy it’s a HUGE bargain. If he gets hurt, you’ve potentially crippled your club until 2030.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
I know I know
I think Widow has the right idea
Tommy Blackjack - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
I can’t see him signing anything longer than 5 or 6. That would still allow him to hit free agency before age 30. Works for everyone I think.
silverwidow - January 16, 2012
I agree, but not what I’m interested in. How many years would you hear that he got, then think it wasn’t too long to be too risky?
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Probably five.
silverwidow - January 16, 2012
I agree. 5 would feel right, I’d be okay with 6 or 7, 8 would feel like too much but if the price is right I’d be happy.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
For Kershaw?
8 years, though 6 or 7 would make more sense. Honestly at that price it may not matter because it’s about keeping him here, not about getting any kind of a deal.
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
It’s still about mitigating risk.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
It may be high risk
But the reward should be even higher. Injury risk is always on people’s mind for pitchers when talking extensions, but for a guy like this, we know we aren’t getting a Darren Driefort as far as both production and health, so minimum 5 years is great with me, though i’d like to see him for another couple years more than that personally (likely just for that specific contract, if things go right i’d want him back after).
If we have to roll the dice, i’m happy doing it on Kemp and Kershaw.
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
and with pitchers
theres a ton of risk. And even more with young pitchers. Past history has not been kind to guys like Kershaw who dominated from an early age: a lot of them flamed out by 29-30. So not only do you have the risks inherent to pitchers, but the ones for young pitchers as well.
None of us wants to believe that will happen to Clayton, but the reality is its entirely possible. How do you build some sort of safety net around that possibility that both sides can agree on?
EMDarrow - January 16, 2012
higher value, opt out clauses every 3 years. 8 year deal with 3 separate 3 year mutual options.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
If there was some sort of protection around it becoming a Dreifort contract (I mean a high salary contract on the books for someone who cant pitch anymore, to say nothing of simply not being as good) then yea, I’d totally be fine with something in the 8-9 year range.
EMDarrow - January 16, 2012
8
Eric Stephen - January 16, 2012
7 years…..DO IT!
VeroJoe - January 16, 2012
Trivia Time
Which active player is the longest tenured all-star?
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Julio Franco??
Too bad he’s still not around, lol. Wait, was he ever an all-star?
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
FWIW, Franco was first an all star in 1989.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
in 1989, the winning pitcher was Nolan Ryan, the loser was John Smoltz, Doug Jones got the save, Tommy lasorda managed the NL, Tony LaRussa the AL, Wade Boggs and Bo Jackson hit home runs, and Bo was named MVP
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
wow
That was only the year I was born, lol.
Ivdown - January 16, 2012
Vizquel?
EMDarrow - January 16, 2012
Omar was first an all star in 1998. There was someone else also in 1998 who is still active. The site I saw said it was the other person, but Vizquel was the same year. I’m now doubting my source.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
ok sorry
the last active all star was first an all star in 1992.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
I have no idea. Jamie Moyer?
Eric Stephen - January 16, 2012
Actually, it’s probably Wakefield.
Eric Stephen - January 16, 2012
tim wakefield was only an all star once, in 2009, at the age of 42.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Pudge was active this last year, did he start going to ASGs that early on?
EMDarrow - January 16, 2012
Yeah. Good call
Eric Stephen - January 16, 2012
how was pudge
not an all star in 02 and 03?
delias man - January 16, 2012
hmm
both years his league only took 2 catchers
delias man - January 16, 2012
2002: AJ Pierzynski/Posada
2003: Lo Duca/javy lopez
Yeah, he should have been an all star
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
in 2002 he only played 39 games before the ASB, but in 2003 he was awesome and played 82 games pre-break.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
ok
delias man - January 16, 2012
It’s Pudge. He was an all star in 1992. Thome is second.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
you of all people are going to kick yourself
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
Jamie Moyer has only been an All Star once, in 2003, at the age of 40.
G.Scott - January 16, 2012
In the Kershaw arbitration thread
I suggested 6/$96M. Would people still consider this a bad off-season if we locked both Kemp and Kershaw up long term?
Xeifrank - January 16, 2012
For the present, hell yes
For the future, no.
EMDarrow - January 16, 2012
Ok
let me try to frame this question a little differently then.
Which would you take, scenario A or B
Scenario A:
Sellers starting 2B, Fielder signed to 8 year deal, Loney traded for scraps, Sands/Gwynn platoon in LF, Kuroda ($13M), Eovaldi 5th starter. With neither Kemp nor Kershaw signed to long term deals.
Scenario B:
What has happened so far with Kershaw extended for 6 years at some fair but pretty high amount.
Xeifrank - January 16, 2012
Lat'd
Xeifrank - January 16, 2012
NPUT
http://www.truebluela.com/2012/1/16/2711025/sayonara-hiroki-kuroda
Phil Gurnee - January 16, 2012
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