Clayton Kershaw has a major decision to make, and he won’t have much time to figure things out.
Kershaw only has three days to decide whether he will opt out of his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Less than two weeks ago, Kershaw thought he had 10 days after the World Series to make a decision and only recently found out he has three days.
On Oct. 16, Clayton Kershaw said his understanding was he had 10 days after the World Series to decide whether to opt out. He has since learned he has 3 days. He said he expects to talk to the Dodgers in the next 3 days about working out something else.
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) October 29, 2018
Perhaps that’s a sign that the career-Dodger was much more focused on the postseason rather than making plans to leave the team.
Kershaw signed a 7-year, $215 million contract before the 2014 season. The contract called for an option to terminate his contract after 2018. What Kershaw needs to decide is if he wants to play out his existing contract, in which he is set to make $65 million, or opt out and test free agency. He could likely earn more total money in free agency, but perhaps it would be for less annually compared to the $32.5 million he is set to earn each of the next two years.
Another possibility is that the Dodgers and Kershaw agree to a reworked contract that extends his time with the team for an amount of money that satisfies both parties. Kershaw was drafted by the Dodgers in 2006 and has played his entire career with the team.
