After 15 seasons, Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw has perfected his control

PHOENIX — Clayton Kershaw first confronted the conundrum almost 10 years ago.

On the verge of free agency ahead of the 2014 season, and having already become entrenched as the face of the Dodgers franchise following his second of three Cy Young Award wins, the left-hander faced a crossroads during contract negotiations with the club that offseason.

For one of the first times as a major leaguer, Kershaw was forced to take a hard look at his long-term future — to start mapping out his career in a way the surefire Hall of Famer hadn't needed to before.

At times during that process, Kershaw recalled, "There were talks of doing 10, 15 years," the kind of ultra-length deal likely to span the rest of his playing days.

The only problem?

"I just never was comfortable committing to be good for that long," Kershaw said.

And nearly a decade later, that philosophy hasn't changed.

Now, just as."