When Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw hit free agency after the 2021 season, he was coming off a season-ending elbow injury that had him spending some of the offseason actually contemplating retirement. When the deadline came to decide whether to make Kershaw a qualifying offer, the future was so up in the air that, out of respect to Kershaw, Los Angeles decided not to make a qualifying offer.
Kershaw eventually re-signed with L.A. and had an outstanding 2022 season, and now he’s once again a free agent. And because they didn’t make him a QO last year, the Dodgers now once again face the decision of whether to offer it this year.