GLENDALE, Ariz. — Clayton Kershaw admittedly wasn’t prepared for what foot surgery would entail. He spent four weeks on crutches and another four weeks in a walking boot. For more than a month, every step brought with it excruciating pain.

Being a normal dad to his four children was difficult. And yet Kershaw, who has contemplated retirement for years now, went through a painstaking rehab for the chance to pitch again this summer, even though his Los Angeles Dodgers had just secured another championship.

This time, retirement wasn’t even entertained.

“I hope this is the last time I have to rehab — I’m kind of done with that — but at the same time, I don’t want that to be the reason that I stop playing,” Kershaw said after Thursday’s workout.

“I don’t want to be, ‘I just can’t do it hurt,’ you know? Hopefully I can walk out on my own terms, whenever that is. But it just didn’t feel like it was the right time, even though we won. Being on the shelf for that wasn’t the way that I had scripted it out. Still super thankful to be a part of it last year and get to see everything, but I want to be out there when it happens.”

Kershaw, who will celebrate his 37th birthday on March 19, underwent shoulder surgery in November of 2023, made his way back into the Dodgers’ rotation in late July of the following summer, made seven starts, aggravated a long-standing toe injury and didn’t pitch again, sitting idly by in October.

Shortly after the Dodgers secured their second championship in five years — and their first in a full season since 1988 — Kershaw underwent surgery to address a bone spur and a ruptured plantar plate in his left foot, as well as a procedure to remedy a meniscus tear in his left knee.

Rehabbing the former proved to be far more difficult than rehabbing the latter. The Dodgers saved a roster spot for him nonetheless, waiting for Kershaw to gain more clarity on his timeline before finalizing a contract. His new deal — with a guarantee of $7.5 million and a host of incentives — was agreed to on Tuesday and became official on Thursday.

In recent years, Kershaw has toyed with the idea of finishing his career with his hometown Texas Rangers, who employ Chris Young, one of his best friends, as president of baseball operations.

That is no longer the case.

“I’m a Dodger,” Kershaw said. “I’m so thankful for this organization. I don’t think I put enough merit on it at times, at what it means to be able to be in one organization for your entire career. You look at people throughout all of sports that have been able to do that, and it is special. It is. I don’t want to lose sight of that. Getting to be here for my whole career, however long that is, is definitely a goal. Thankful that I get to continue this journey.”

Kershaw has been walking on his own for roughly six weeks and was able to begin running when he reported to Camelback Ranch earlier this week. Kershaw is currently only able to long-toss, but he anticipates throwing bullpen sessions at some point next month and alluded to making it back into the rotation at some point in late May or early June. At that point, he’ll slot somewhere within a loaded rotation featuring Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

Whether this is his last year remains to be seen.

“It’s been year to year for a number of years now,” said Kershaw, whose last multiyear contract expired after the 2021 season. “We’ll just see how it goes at the end of this year.”

After finishing an eight-minute scrum with the media, Kershaw grabbed his rolling suitcase and went back to Highland Park, Texas, where he will continue his rehab. He anticipates being back and forth between the team and his home until getting into the late stages of his rehab, similar to how he navigated last year.

It wasn’t necessarily planned this way, but at this point, he appreciates it.

“From a family perspective, I’m very thankful that I get to go home a little bit at the beginning of the season and get to do the school stuff,” Kershaw said. “Cali’s in fourth grade, and it’s getting harder to leave; she’s actually learning stuff. So it is a little bit harder to leave home and stuff like that. But at the same time, it’s not by design. I’m not even going to think about next year, but, if I was healthy, it wouldn’t be that way.”

TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman, the subject of trade rumors in recent months and currently the odd man out of the team’s rotation, did not participate in the first two spring training workouts. He stayed away from camp after reporting for his physical Tuesday.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he “had an idea” that Stroman would miss workouts Wednesday and Thursday after speaking with the pitcher earlier in the week. Boone said he was in communication with him both Wednesday night and Thursday morning, declining to divulge Stroman’s reasoning for the absence.

“I’m not going to speak for him,” Boone said. “You can ask him for the reasons. I want him here, obviously, but we also have to respect the rules that are set up.”

Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement stipulates that players are not obligated to report for spring training until Feb. 22. Boone said he anticipates Stroman will join the team in the next couple of days, though he declined to share the specific date.

“He’s a prideful player,” Boone said. “He’s a guy that’s had a great career. It’s a little bit of an awkward situation, obviously. So of course I want him here, and I’m trying to keep nudging him to get here. But, again, you also have to respect the fact that this is something players are allowed to do. There’s a mandatory date and he’s choosing that right now.”

Stroman, 33, does not project to make the Yankees’ five-man rotation — a group that includes Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil — and is owed $18.5 million this season with an $18 million player option for 2026 should he log at least 140 innings in 2025. The Yankees, as a result, have tried trading the two-time All-Star to shed his salary, sources told ESPN.

“There’s always rumors — false, true — and, frankly, that’s usually above me anyway until something is real,” Boone said. “So, no, we didn’t get into that at all other than to acknowledge that there’s been, obviously, the noise and the situation that he walks into and having six, seven, eight starters, all that. He’s ready to compete.”

Stroman recorded a 4.31 ERA in 30 appearances (29 starts) across 154 2/3 innings in his first season with the Yankees and 10th as a big leaguer. The veteran did not throw a pitch in the Yankees’ 14-game playoff run to the World Series after being left off their American League Division Series and World Series rosters but put on the AL Championship Series roster.

“This is a guy that’s been an outstanding pitcher in this league for a long time with a lot of pride,” Boone said. “But, no, I don’t sense any animus between he and I, and I’m confident and comfortable that he’s ready to come in here and do his job at a high level.”

As for whether he believes Stroman’s decision will bother teammates, Boone said he will “pay attention to it.”

“It doesn’t change my opinion of Marcus,” Cole said. “I like him.”

In other news from Yankees camp, Cole, who is nearly a year removed from sustaining an elbow injury that sidelined him until late June, said he felt good after throwing touching 95 mph three times during a 25-pitch live bullpen session Thursday.

“A lot of strikes; some good shapes, too,” Cole said.

Cole said he’s healthy and ahead of schedule in his throwing program compared to recent years.

Also, prospect Eric Reyzelman was discharged from a local hospital Thursday morning after he was kept overnight following an allergic reaction.

“He came in here today in good spirits,” Boone said.

Reyzelman, 23, is a non-roster invitee in major-league camp after recording a 1.93 ERA in 21 games across three minor league levels last season.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day after a partial dislocation of his right kneecap during the offseason, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias said Thursday.

Elias told reporters at Orioles camp that Rogers sustained the knee subluxation in January. It wasn’t clear exactly when or how Rogers sustained the injury. The pitcher is playing catch with the team in Florida but is significantly behind schedule.

Baltimore acquired the former All-Star lefty and first-round draft pick from Miami in a deadline trade for two top prospects this past July. Rogers was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk just three weeks later after going 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA in four starts. He allowed 25 hits and 15 earned runs over 19 innings.

Rogers provided a left-handed option for the Orioles’ rotation, though the team seems set for now with five right-handers. Offseason additions Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano have joined returners Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez.

The 27-year-old Rogers has a 15-34 record with a 4.36 ERA in 84 big league starts, the first 80 with the Marlins from 2020 until the trade this past summer. Miami drafted with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft out of Carlsbad High School in New Mexico.

Rogers was an All-Star in 2021, the same season that he finished as the runner-up behind Cincinnati’s Jonathan India for National League Rookie of the Year. He was 7-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 25 starts that year and struck out 157 batters in 133 innings.

Elias said second baseman Jorge Mateo, recovering from left elbow surgery on his non-throwing arm in late August, also likely wouldn’t be ready for the March 27 opener at Toronto even though he is playing catch and taking part in hitting progression.

Mateo got hurt July 23 in a game against Miami when he collided with shortstop Gunnar Henderson as they both dove for a grounder behind the second base bag.

The Orioles and the 29-year-old Mateo avoided a salary arbitration hearing when he agreed to a $3.55 million, one-year contract in January. The deal includes a $5.5 million team option for 2026. The option could increase by $500,000 based on plate appearances in 2025: $125,000 each for 460, 480, 500 and 520.