By Bill Plunkett, The Orange County Register The Tribune Content Agency
LOS ANGELES - A year ago, Clayton Kershaw had the first major surgery of his career.
This year, he joked he's going in for "a 2-for-1 special." Kershaw said he will have two surgeries next Wednesday, one a meniscus repair of his left knee and the other a more complicated procedure to address the chronic problems he has with the big toe on his left foot.
That injury forced Kershaw to the injured list after just seven starts this season and prevented him from pitching in the postseason.
Kershaw said he doesn't "exactly know timelines" for his recovery but he will be on crutches "for a little bit." It will almost certainly impact his ability to open the 2025 season on time.
"I don't know that. I don't know," he said of the estimated recovery time. "I think you have to go in and get it fixed and then kind of understand the timeline after that."
The three-time Cy Young Award winner said his knee had been bothering him for a while so he got an MRI "just to check."
"Sure enough, I need a fix," he said. "So just add it to the list."
That surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who also performed Kershaw's shoulder surgery last November.
The foot surgery will be more involved. In addition to bone spurs, Kershaw said he ruptured the plantar plate in the ball of the foot.
"There's a lot of stuff in there," he said. "I think I ruptured my plantar plate. I think I got a bone spur. I think I got some arthritis. I don't really know. I've got to ask more questions. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed."
Kershaw also finally acknowledged that he suffered an oblique injury while trying to work his way back to pitch before the end of the season. That injury, he said, has healed.
At the stadium event that followed Friday's parade, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called Kershaw up to speak to the fans. The future Hall of Famer teared up as he spoke.
"I didn't have a lot to do with this, so I didn't expect to get called up there or to speak," Kershaw said later.
"It was a little bit more emotional than I expected. ... I know they (fans) have felt all the losses too, just like I did. The only way to get through it is just to get through it, and we did, and somehow I'm still here, and they're still here to celebrate."
Kershaw has a player option in his contract and has said he plans to be back with the Dodgers in 2025. He could pick up the option and return or decline the option, technically become a free agent and re-sign a new deal.
"I don't know (how that will play out)," Kershaw said Friday. "I'll be back, somehow. I don't care. I'll be back."
Roberts said he thought Kershaw's emotions were "the culmination" of a lot more than just his situation in 2024.
"Clayton's put the organization on his shoulders for a couple decades," Roberts said. "And there's been a lot of high times and good times, but there's been a lot of emotions for Clayton. And he's had to wear a lot of the burden. I truly believe that this parade was the culmination of a lot of emotions for him, as you saw."
As players on stage at Dodger Stadium made calls to "run it back" and professed "I never want to leave" to the 42,458 fans at the Dodger Stadium rally, free agency arrived in MLB on Friday.
One hundred and forty-four players officially became free agents across MLB, including Dodgers pitchers Walker Buehler, Blake Treinen, Jack Flaherty and Joe Kelly, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and utility player Kiké Hernandez. Outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and pitcher Daniel Hudson are also free agents but both have said they will retire.
Teoscar Hernandez who teared up while speaking to the crowd at the stadium event has made it clear he would like to re-sign with the Dodgers. Last winter, he was surprised with the low offers he got as a free agent and signed with the Dodgers for one year and $23.5 million (much of it deferred).
His market is certain to be better this winter after hitting a career-high 33 home runs, driving in 99 runs and posting an .840 OPS. But he joked that he would like to re-sign with the Dodgers "hopefully tomorrow."
"My hopes are really high," he said. "Like I've said before, the Dodgers are the priority obviously. I'm going to do everything in my power to come back."
Buehler is the most complicated case among the Dodgers' free agents. He performed poorly during his comeback season following a second elbow surgery, going 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA. But he performed admirably in the postseason, even taking the ball to close out the World Series-clinching game at Yankee Stadium.
The Dodgers could make Buehler the qualifying offer. If accepted, he would return on a one-year deal worth approximately $21 million and have the chance to return to free agency a year later and cash in if he has a bounce-back year.
It's unlikely the Dodgers will bring back all of their free agents and Roberts acknowledged that the roster always changes from year to year.
"It's the nature of the business," Roberts said. "But I will say, Andrew talks about Los Angeles being a destination place for players, and I just don't see how anyone wouldn't want to play for the Dodgers. But again, the landscape of the roster is certainly going to change. That's the nature of baseball."