Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw agreed to terms on a $19 million, two-year contract Tuesday, avoiding an arbitration hearing that had been scheduled for Feb. 14. Kershaw was in his first winter of arbitration eligibility, meaning he still will have one more winter of eligibility, following the 2013 season, before he potentially becomes eligible for free agency after 2014. He will receive a $7.5 million salary in 2012, with $2 million of that deferred to January 2013, and $11 million in 2013, plus an additional $500,000 signing bonus that effectively puts his 2012 figure at $8 million -- well below the midpoint ($8.25 million) between the arbitration figures filed last month by Kershaw ($10 million) and the club ($6.5 million).
