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In a decision that may come as a surprise, the Dodgers decided not to extend an $18.4 million qualifying offer to longtime ace Clayton Kershaw ahead of Sunday’s 5 PM deadline.
While we all knew that this was a possibility, it’s still going to be strange to see the 33-year-old southpaw hit the free agent market this off-season. Kershaw, who was the seventh overall selection in the 2006 draft, won 185 ballgames, three National League Cy Young awards and a National League MVP award during his 14 seasons with the Dodgers.
He logged just 121 2/3 innings during an injury-plagued 2021 campaign, but still posted a terrific 3.55 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 144/21 K/BB ratio.
Reports in early October indicated that Kershaw received a PRP injection to address to flexor tendon issue in his ailing left elbow and that he expects to be ready for spring training. Perhaps the Dodgers just weren’t as optimistic about his injury diagnosis and didn’t want to commit the $18.4 million offer to him. There’s always a possibility that they could attempt to bring him back on a smaller deal -- or even some sort of incentive-laden multi-year pact.
In the meantime, while the Dodgers did not make Kershaw a qualifying offer, they did extend them to both Corey Seager and Chris Taylor.
Seager doesn’t come as a surprise at all -- as he has long been expected to receive and decline the offer before joining Carlos Correa, Javier Baez and Trevor Story in one of the most stacked free agent shortstop classes in recent memory.
Taylor comes as a bit of a surprise and it will be interesting to see if he accepts the qualifying offer from the Dodgers. The 31-year-old has been immeasurably valuable to the Dodgers in a super utility role, slashing .254/.344/.438 with 20 homers, 73 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 582 plate appearances during the 2021 season. He earned just $7.8 million during the 2021 season, so accepting the qualifying offer would earn him a sizable raise, though Taylor may prefer to land a secure starting gig on a multi-year deal elsewhere rather than returning to the super-utility role with the Dodgers. He has until November 17 to accept or decline the offer.
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Arenado Captures 9th Consecutive Gold Glove -- Cardinals Win Five
Nolan Arenado was named the Gold Glove Award winner at third base in the National League for the ninth consecutive season on Sunday night.
Arenado has now won the award in each of his first nine seasons in the big leagues and he trails only Brooks Robinson (16) and Mike Schmidt (10) in career Gold Gloves at the position.
Equally as impressive, he’s one of five members of the St. Louis Cardinals to take home the hardware on Sunday night -- the most ever for any team in a single season.
Here’s the full list of Gold Glove winners in the National League: C - Jacob Stallings, 1B - Paul Goldschmidt, 2B - Tommy Edman, SS - Brandon Crawford, 3B - Nolan Arenado, LF - Tyler O’Neill, CF - Harrison Bader, RF - Adam Duvall, P - Max Fried.
On the American League side, Matt Chapman secured his third Gold Glove Award -- the third time in the last four seasons that he has been named the league’s top defensive third baseman.
Here’s the full list of Gold Glove winners in the American League: C - Sean Murphy, 1B - Yuli Gurriel, 2B - Marcus Semien, SS - Carlos Correa, 3B - Matt Chapman, LF - Andrew Benintendi, CF - Michael A. Taylor, RF - Joey Gallo, P - Dallas Keuchel.
MLB Quick Hits: The Rockies decided against extending a qualifying offer to right-hander Jon Gray. … Similarly, the White Sox did not make a qualifying offer to All-Star southpaw Carlos Rodon./baseball/mlb/player/20299/carlos-rodon… J.D. Martinez decided against opting out of his deal with the Red Sox and will remain with the team in 2022. … The Giants exercised their options on Wilmer Flores ($3.5M) and Jose Alvarez ($1.5M). … The Yankees declined their $3M option on Joely Rodriguez. … The Pirates designated Jose Soriano for assignment to make room for infielder Diego Castillo on their 40-man roster. … Justin Verlander, Brandon Belt, Raisel Iglesias, Eduardo Rodriguez, Freddie Freeman and Carlos Correa each received $18.4 million qualifying offers from their respective clubs. … The Rangers hired Tim Hyers to be their next hitting coach. … The Cubs exercised their $10M option on Wade Miley. … The Tigers exercised their $7.5M option on Tucker Barnhart. … The Rays exercised their $7M option on Mike Zunino and designated Adam Conley for assignment. … The Red Sox declined their options on Martin Perez ($6M) and Garrett Richards ($10M), while exercising their $7M option on Christian Vazquez. … Former Mets manager Luis Rojas has interviewed to become one of the base coaches for the Yankees and is said to have made a positive impression.