Clayton Kershaw, A.J. Ellis, Kenley Jansen file for salary arbitration

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers had three players file for salary arbitration on Tuesday, with Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and A.J. Ellis among 146 major league players following the procedural trail.

The next step in the process is Friday, when players and teams exchange salary figures. Players submit one salary to the Players Association, while teams submit one salary to the MLB Labor Relations Department. If the two sides can't come to an agreement on a 2014 contract, an arbitration hearing will be scheduled for some time between February 1-20, with a three-person panel picking one side or the other.

In 2013, 133 players in MLB filed for salary arbitration, and for the first time no cases made it to a hearing. The Dodgers haven't had an arbitration hearing since 2007, when the Dodgers beat relief pitcher Joe Beimel, giving him a salary of $912,500 rather than the $1.25 million he sought.

Last year the Dodgers had two players file for salary arbitration — Ellis and Ronald Belisario — and reached contract agreements with both on the day of the exchanging salaries, three days later.

Kershaw is the most important case of the three Dodgers, with his value skyrocketing thanks to two Cy Young Awards in the last three seasons and with free agency just one year away. I predicted — perhaps guessed is a better word choice — a salary for Kershaw of $21 million in 2014.

Jansen at three years, 73 days of service time is eligible for arbitration for the first time. I predicted a salary of $4.4 million for Jansen in 2014, a hefty raise from the $512,500 he earned in 2013.

Ellis made $2 million in 2013 as a Super Two, among the top 22% of players with more than two but fewer than three years of service time. I penciled in Ellis for a $3.1 million salary in 2014 in his second of four arbitration seasons.

Not counting these three players, the Dodgers have $218.675 million committed to 21 players in 2014.