The budding Dodgers dynasty is “good for baseball,” in response to one in all its architects.
Clayton Kershaw, who helped information Los Angeles to a few World Sequence championships throughout his historic 18-year profession, insisted the Dodgers’ sustained run of success solely advantages the game — and in contrast it to the powerhouse Yankees groups of the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.
“I feel that was the way in which the Yankees had been. After I was rising up, the Yankees had been the very best workforce — within the World Sequence and profitable all these,” Kershaw mentioned throughout a latest look on “Actually! With Rob Lowe.” “However I feel that’s good for baseball. I actually do.
“Having a workforce that you just both love, as a result of that’s your workforce, otherwise you hate as a result of they maintain profitable — that’s good for baseball.”
Considered one of many biggest pitchers in MLB historical past, Kershaw, 37, formally retired following the 2025 season.
The left-hander walked away as an 11-time All-Star, three-time NL Cy Younger Award winner, NL MVP, Gold Glove recipient, member of the three,000-strikeout membership and three-time world champion.
He went 11-2 with a 3.36 ERA in 23 regular-season outings final season earlier than getting a key out in aid throughout Recreation 3 of the World Sequence.
Accidents hampered Kershaw in his ultimate years, however he remained an integral a part of a Dodgers group that has not solely captured back-to-back World Sequence titles however appeared in 4 of the previous eight Fall Classics.
Los Angeles’ dominance has been fueled by an aggressive method to star expertise — including back-to-back NL MVP Shohei Ohtani, Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, former MVPs Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, and two-time Cy Younger winner Blake Snell.
This offseason has been no totally different, with the Dodgers signing now-former Mets nearer Edwin Diaz.
Their success even prompted commissioner Rob Manfred to inform ESPN that the Dodgers “are most likely extra worthwhile on a share foundation than the previous Yankees had been, which means it may very well be extra sustainable, so it’s extra of an issue.”
With MLB’s collective bargaining settlement set to run out subsequent December, salary-cap speak is anticipated to maneuver entrance and middle — and the Dodgers’ spending-and-winning machine may very well be Exhibit A with a possible lockout looming.
Kershaw, nonetheless, maintained that the Dodgers’ standing because the league’s premier franchise finally helps baseball — pointing to their capacity to draw Japanese stars and the worldwide consideration they received by defeating the Blue Jays within the 2025 World Sequence.
“You don’t need to be detached,” Kershaw mentioned. “I feel it’s good to have that. That’s what viewership is. I feel this postseason — clearly with our Japan fan base, and being in Canada — it was the highest-watched postseason in a very long time. So I feel it’s all good for baseball.”
