Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Wins Starting Pitcher Of The Year GIBBY

All the major awards have passed and while the Los Angeles Dodgers won a few awards, ace Clayton Kershaw took home another award this afternoon. The GIBBY (Greatness in Baseball Yearly) awards were announced this morning at the Winter Meetings in Florida after more than 10 million media, front-office personnel, MLB Alumni and fans at MLB.com.

Via Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com, Kershaw took home the best starting pitcher of the year award:

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw added to his hardware collection on Tuesday when he was named winner of the Greatness in Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) Award as the Starting Pitcher of the Year for 2013.

Kershaw won his second Cy Young Award in three years earlier this off-season as he went 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA, leading baseball in that category for the third straight season. In 236 innings pitched, he struck out 232 batters and had an impressive 4.46 K/BB ratio after struggling during the first part of his career with his control.

The next question for Kershaw is whether or not he and the Dodgers will come to an agreement about a long-term contract extension. There have been rumors that multiple contracts have been discussed, but it sounds like those talks have remained quiet thus far in the off-season.

Just 25-years-old, the Dodgers would be foolish to put these talks on hold for much longer as letting him get to the open market would be a huge mistake. While the GIBBY award isn’t as prestigious as his second Cy Young award, it’s another reminder of how great a pitcher he is and the need for the Dodgers to lock him up.

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