Dodgers roll dice on Clayton Kershaw for $93 million

According to a report, Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a 3-year, $93 million extension to keep the 3-time Cy Young winner in L.A.

Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw isn’t going anywhere, according to a report.

ESPN, citing a source, reported Friday that the Dodgers and Kershaw have agreed to terms on a three-year, $93 million deal that will keep the three-time Cy Young Award winner in Chavez Ravine and off the free agent market.

Kershaw was limited to 26 starts this season after a balky back limited him to just four appearances in May and June combined and missed the All-Star Game for the first time since 2010.

Even at less than his best, the 2014 National League Most Valuable Player posted a 2.73 ERA and 1.051 WHIP in 161.1 innings, striking out 155 and walking only 29.

He had an uneven postseason — again — throwing a gem in the Dodgers’ NL Division Series victory over the Atlanta Braves, allowing just two hits in eight scoreless innings in Game 2.

But he was roughed up for five runs, four earned, in just three innings in the opener of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers before bouncing back to allow just one run on three hits over seven innings of a Game 5 win and then working the final inning of Game 7 to seal a second straight World Series trip.

The Fall Classic did not go well for Kershaw, who was knocked out after allowing five runs in four innings of Game 2 and surrendering four runs on seven hits in the Boston Red Sox title-clinching Game 5 win.

Kershaw will be 31 by the time next season starts and is coming off a season in which he had his highest ERA and WHIP since 2010. He also had less than 10 strikeouts per nine innings this season for the first time since 2013.

He’s the greatest pitcher of his generation, with Cy Young Award wins in 2011, 2013 and 2014 to go with three other top-three finishes in the voting, but $31 million a year is a fair-sized risk on a pitcher who showed evident signs of decline in 2018.

The Dodgers took that into account, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and The Athletic, with the deal containing incentives for reaching 24, 26, 28 and 30 starts.

With Kershaw tied up, the Dodgers still have 32-year-old left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu entering free agency. The Dodgers extended the $17.9 qualifying offer to Ryu on Friday, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

In 11 seasons, Kershaw has a 2.39 ERA and 1.005 WHIP — the fourth-best mark in MLB history — but has been limited by injuries in each of the last three seasons, starting 21 games in 2016 and 27 in 2017.

Still, Kershaw is the ace of a staff that has made six straight trips to the postseason, three consecutive appearances in the NLCS and two straight World Series runs, falling short in both.

He makes several appearances on MLB’s all-time lists for rate stats, ranking second all-time allowing 6.74 hits per nine innings, eighth with 9.767 strikeouts per nine innings and sixth with a ratio of 4.244 strikeouts per walk issued.

His adjusted ERA+ of 159 is second all-time, as well, trailing Hall of Famer in waiting Mariano Rivera.