Dodgers sign Clayton Kershaw to two-year, $19-million deal

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That may not have been the truly long-term contract some of the faithful were hoping for, but the Dodgers did avoid arbitration with Clayton Kershaw this year and the next by signing him Tuesday to a two-year, $19-million contract.

The Times’ Dylan Hernandez reports Kershaw will earn a $500,000 signing bonus, $7.5 million this season and $11 million in 2013.

The club had previously exchanged arbitration figures with National League’s Cy Young winner, submitting $6.5 million to Kershaw’s $10-million bid.

His contract is in keeping with the Dodgers signing players at a comparatively low salary for next season, then raising it significantly the next. Matt Kemp, who signed an eight-year, $160-million contract in November, will earn just $10 million next season, $2 million of it deferred.

The Dodgers’ 2012 active payroll now figures to come in about $93.5 million.

It seems a fair contract for both the Dodgers and the 23-year-old Kershaw, thought particularly for the Dodgers. After his third season, and second consecutive Cy Young win, the Giants Tim Lincecum signed a two-year, $23-million deal in 2010.

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-- Steve Dilbeck