Dodgers Aces Tyler Glasnow, Walker Buehler Don't Want to See Clayton Kershaw Join Rangers
With all of the hubbub surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers' billion-dollar offseason, the situation surrounding Clayton Kershaw has yet to be determined.
Conventional wisdom suggests Kershaw will either re-sign with the franchise he's spent his entire career with, or opt to sign with the Texas Rangers. Being a Texas native, the team is located a stone's throw from his family home in Dallas.
"It’s no secret; I think every year there’s only two teams that I would ever play for going forward,” Kershaw told reporters in Dec. 2022.
Flash forward one year. Kershaw is a free agent again, and reports have indicated the Dodgers would love to bring him back. Though Kershaw is recovering from shoulder surgery and perhaps wouldn't be back until after the 2024 All-Star break, his presence on the Dodgers' roster isn't quantifiable by mere baseball stats.
Take the example of Tyler Glasnow. The talented pitcher grew up in Southern California, where he became a massive Kershaw fan. When speaking with Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation, Glasnow spoke about why he'd love to have Kershaw as a teammate:
"It would be amazing. I think that would be, like, talk about a super duper team. If we could get Kershaw in there, too, that would be awesome. I don’t think I need to pitch him. I think he knows all about how awesome L.A. is and how great the organization is. I hope that he signs back with the Dodgers. That would be incredible."
Glasnow then offered thoughts on the impact Kershaw could have on some of the younger pitchers on the staff, including new signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto:
“The guidance he could provide for Yamamoto being young, me for sure. Just kind of, picking his brain. He’s done it for so long at such a high level, it would be a win-win-win all around for everybody.”
Longtime Kershaw teammate Walker Buehler offered a simple "NO!" in response to rumors that Texas is in the mix to sign Kershaw.
While everyone will respect Kershaw's ultimate decision, it's very difficult to envision him in another uniform. With the Dodgers as loaded as they've been, the chance to win a World Series is very real.
Even if he's not a frontline starter, having the left-handed Kershaw mixed in with a group of hard-throwing right-handed pitchers could make Kershaw's assortment of off-speed pitches even more lethal.
