Clayton Kershaw has made over $300 million in his Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kershaw has been pitching in Major League Baseball since 2008 and has been one of the most dominant starting pitchers to ever play the game.
Kershaw’s dominance was once rewarded with a seven-year, $215 million contract extension from the Dodgers.
Nowadays, he has been signing one-year deals to remain in the Dodgers uniform each offseason. Prolonging his career has helped Kershaw reach career milestones like 3,000 strikeouts and win a second World Series ring (although he was injured for the 2024 postseason).
Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw will get a huge raise on Friday
Even with over $300 million in career earnings, the paydays keep coming for Clayton Kershaw.
When he takes the mound for the Dodgers on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays, he will earn another $1 million for reaching a contract incentive for starts made.
The same thing can be said for each of Kershaw’s next three starts after Friday, as well. Each one is worth $1 million.
In one week, Kershaw will also receive an additional $4.5 million for the amount of days he has spent on the active roster. That was another contract incentive installed by the Dodgers during negotiations with fear that injuries would come for Kershaw once again.
All in all, Clayton Kershaw’s 2025 contract could be worth up to $16 million. It looks like he is going to cash in on the full value (via Spotrac).
When #Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw takes the mound tonight he’ll lock in a $1M bonus for making 13 starts.
He can add another $1M each for 14, 15, 16 starts, and is also 1-week away from fully vesting $4.5M of days-active bonus, putting him on track to max out his $16M contract.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) August 8, 2025
Kershaw’s reliable 2025 season
The Dodgers have definitely gotten their money’s worth. In a year where seemingly every pitcher on the roster has gone down with an injury, Clayton Kershaw being a relatively healthy and reliable member of the starting rotation is invaluable.
Entering Friday night’s start, Kershaw is 5-2 with a 3.29 ERA. He has only made it out out of the fifth inning in eight of his 12 starts, but he has allowed three runs or less in nine different outings.
Back in June, Kershaw picked up the win in four consecutive starts.
If Kershaw keeps this going and ends up giving the Dodgers 20 starts with an ERA in the low-3s this season, he will be well worth his $16 million salary.
