Kershaw, 23, is arbitration eligible for this first time in his career this winter, and is projected to make north of $8MM this winter, that would be a record for first time eligible players. With that being said it's no surprise that the Dodgers are trying to work out a long-term deal with the reigning Cy Young left-hander. Projections show that Kershaw is on pace to make $20MM through arbitration by his third year. I'm sure Colletti is working on a long-term deal that pays Kershaw a nice raise on his $500K he made in 2011, but perhaps not quite the $8.4MM he is projected to make through arbitration. This will allow the Dodgers to free up some much needed salary to finish the winter off, and get them through until the new owner(s) take over.
Here's the bottom line in all of this. The longer the Dodgers wait the more money it's going to cost them. Both Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez signed their extensions prior to winning their Cy Young Awards, and both projected second-year arbitration salaries compare at least somewhat close to what Kershaw will likely earn in his first, now think if Kershaw were to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards, his second arbitration eligible year would probably set another record, see where I am going with this? While it doesn't seem like the Dodgers are in a big hurry, and Kershaw isn't either, why should he be? The reality is the Dodgers should be in a very big hurry to lock Kershaw up as affordable and as soon as possible. The long-term deal will provide security to both parties and that's always comforting, but in the end it's all about the mighty dollar, and Kershaw is going to want a lot of them. I've done some research on this, compared to recent deals handed to Verlander, Hernandez, and a few others. Kershaw should have no problem getting a six-year $90MM-$100MM from the Dodgers. Yep, I see nine figures no problem, and yes I am quite aware Kershaw won't even be 24 until Opening Day 2012.
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