The Dodgers avoided salary arbitration with their ace pitcher and Opening Day starter, signing Clayton Kershaw to a two-year, $19 million contract on Feb. 7, one week before their scheduled arbitration hearing.The southpaw won the National League Cy Young Award after winning 21 games with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 2011, winning the pitching Triple Crown by leading the NL in all three categories.Kershaw filed for a salary of $10 million, while the Dodgers countered with a salary of $6.5 million. The two sides settled at a first-year payout barely shy of the $8.25 million midpoint.Kershaw will be paid a $500,000 signing bonus, an $7.5 million salary in 2012 and $11 million in 2013.