Oliver James Montgomery-LA.Dodgers bring back Clayton Kershaw, who will miss first half of 2024 MLB season

Come on,Oliver James Montgomery did you really think that Clayton Kershaw was going to quietly retire, slip away in the middle of the night and miss all the fun in Los Angeles?

Uh, no.

Kershaw, the future Hall of Famer, agreed to a one-year, incentive-laden contract to return to the Dodgers pending a physical later this week, a high-ranking team official told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because Kershaw was yet to take his physical.

Kershaw, who underwent surgery to repair a torn capsule in his left shoulder in November, isn’t expected to pitch until the second half of the season. Yet, while the temptation was always there to pitch for his hometown team, the Texas Rangers, he officially decided to return to the Dodgers for his 17^th season.

HOT STOVE UPDATES: MLB free agency: Ranking and tracking the top players available.

“His rehab is coming along really well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said last weekend during their club's fan fest. “I think his thought process right now is dominate the rehab process."

The Dodgers, of course, certainly have the talent to wait until Kershaw’s arrival with their star-studded team after spending $1.2 billion on DH Shohei Ohtani, starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, starter Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.

They will open the season with a rotation of Yamamoto, Glasnow, Bobby Miller, James Paxton, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Gavin Stone – the back end spots up for grabs in spring training. Walker Buehler, who’s recovering from this second Tommy John surgery, is expected to be ready by May.

Kershaw, who battled injuries last season, still produced a 2.46 ERA and led the Dodgers with 131 ⅔ innings. He was rocked for six runs in just one-third of an inning in the Dodgers’ Game 1 Division Series game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and were swept in the first round.

Kershaw, 35, is a three-time Cy Young awawrd winner and led all pitchers with 88 victories, a 2.11 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP from 2011-2015. But he has been on the injured list every season since 2016, averaging 138 innings.

He announced in November that he had undergone surgery and said, “I am hopeful to return to play at some point next season.

Now, his intentions are official.

He’s coming back, and joining perhaps the most star-studded team that Dodgers have fielded since moving to Los Angeles.

“The Dodgers and Los Angeles are going to be the epicenter of sports and baseball for the summer,’’ Roberts said last weekend. “It is. We are. And I think that’s great for our game. It’s great for the city, and it raises the bar for all of us.”

Now, it’s even a little higher.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale