The news I’m about to tell you probably isn’t news to you.  Clayton Kershaw signed an extension of 7 years at $215 million last night with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  There is a player opt out clause after the fifth year, but the deal will still pay Kershaw $30 million annually.  The deal is a record-setter that should work out for Kershaw, the Dodgers, and his fantasy owners or soon-to-be owners.  Those who own the ace in long-term keeper/dynasty leagues can let out a sigh of relief.  There will be no contract distractions, no concerns about switching over to the American League (NL-Only goers and ERA worriers), and no change in home park factors that could be a disadvantage to the pitcher.  Then again, no matter where Kershaw pitches, he’s bound to be great.

Clayton Kershaw has outperformed his FIP and xFIP since 2009.  He has a career .270 BABIP (league average is between .290-.300).  His left on-base percentage is always great, sitting at a career 77.8% (about 5% above league average).  He is also one of the best at keeping the ball in the yard.  Some may argue that Kershaw’s FIP and xFIP are pointing to some good fortune, but eventually, you have to accept, and expect, that he will continue to outperform those during his prime.

Fact is, there isn’t much he isn’t great at.  Kershaw has been stingy with the walks in recent years, posting a career low 5.7 BB% in 2013.  This was backed up by a career high in first pitch strike percentage (65.1%).  Last season, he got more swinging strikes than ever before, finishing at an impressive 11.4%.  I suppose if you want to find something to worry about, Kershaw’s fastball went down a tick for the second straight year.  But a slow, minute decline in fastball velocity is normal for all pitchers.  Not to mention his fastball graded out as one of the best in baseball last season (according to Pitch F/X Pitch Values).

But today isn’t a day to go in-depth about Clayton Kershaw.  He is awesome.  You know he’s awesome.  The Dodgers know he’s awesome.  And a lot of people have already gone into why he’s so awesome.  It’s also apparent that the Dodgers love Kershaw.  They gave him $30 million per year to show as much.  I tried to come up with 30 million reasons why we should all love Clayton Kershaw, but came up a bit short.  So, I settled on number that represents half of his AAV.  It felt like a good place to start.  If you guys want to complete the next 15, or 30 million, go for it.

1. In 2011, Clayton Kershaw won his first Cy Young and a Gold Glove.  Last season, he won his second Cy Young.
2. Among qualified starters, Pitch F/X Pitch Values shows the best curveball per 100 pitches thrown belongs to Kershaw.  Jose Fernandez was second…and it was close.
3. He’s a lefty.  I’m a lefty.  Our similarities get more meaningless from this point forward.
4. Clayton had the best FIP (2.39) among qualified starters in 2013.  Matt Harvey was first (2.00).
5. His nickname is The Claw.  But this movie does it better.
6. Despite owning him in a keeper league, I and Clayton are not on a first name basis.  But Mr. Kershaw and his MLB leading 1.83 ERA helped me win the title.  So thanks Claw.
7. He did this dance.
8. Last season, Kershaw accumulated 0.5 fWAR based only on his offense, defense, and base-running.  This production outdid Starlin Castro’s 2013 fWAR (-0.1).
9. Claw also hit the first homerun of his career.  He has a total of 424 plate appearances.  In Ben Revere’s career, he has zero dingers despite having 976 more PAs.
10. Clayton Kershaw runs a charity you should check out.
11. He led the league in rWAR (8.4).  Another lefty happened to be second with in rWAR (7.6).  His name is Cliff Lee.
12. Kershaw has never been on the disabled list, but gave us all a scare with that hip impingement ordeal towards the end of the 2012 season.
13. Clayton Kershaw and his wife co-authored a book named Arise: Live Out Your Faith and Dreams on Whatever Field You Find Yourself.
14. His great uncle is Clyde Tombaugh.  Clyde discovered Pluto.  Yeah science!
15. Clayton Kershaw’s ADP is six.  He will be going in the first round of most fantasy drafts.

Thanks to Wikipedia.org, NESN.com, YouTube.com, Fangraphs.com, and Baseball-Reference.com for the info and data.