Sports

Kershaw upset with Dodgers for taking contract talks public

Clayton Kershaw is on the verge of getting nearly 200 million more reasons to be happy, but the Dodgers ace has still found cause to complain.

Kershaw, who Fox Sports reported is “making progress” with the Dodgers on a seven-year extension worth more than $180 million– which would be the largest deal ever given to a pitcher– is upset that news of the negotiations with the team had gone public.

“I think the reason we’ve been able to continue discussions for this long is that it’s not been talked about,” Kershaw told the Los Angeles Times. “And now that I’m having to talk about it, it’s a distraction because people are talking about it. I guess you’ll have to talk to the Dodgers as to why it came out now. I don’t love the fact that I have to talk about it.”

Kershaw, who won the 2011 Cy Young Award and leads the National League with a 1.84 ERA this season, believes the leak came from the Dodgers. The 25-year-old southpaw said he did not know if the negotiations would be hurt by the leak.

“We kind of had an agreement that we weren’t going to talk about it,” Kershaw said. “It didn’t come from our side…I’m going to still hold up my end of the bargain and not talk about it.”

General Manager Ned Colletti also declined to comment on the report.