LOS ANGELES — One of the most important questions of the offseason will be answered quickly. Will he or won’t he?

Clayton Kershaw must alert the Dodgers within 72 hours of the World Series ending if he is opting out of the final two years and $65 million of his seven-year, $215 million contract.

Should he make himself a free agent, Kershaw would trigger another intriguing question that would take a lot longer to answer: “What is the going rate for this fading star?”

Kershaw, who turns 31 in March, remained generally excellent this year with a 2.79 ERA. But the indicators of regression intensified. He went on the DL twice, once for a biceps injury and for the third time in as many years for a lower back issue.

Kershaw’s average fastball velocity dropped for the third straight year, down to 90.9 mph. And, as was exemplified in World Series Game 1, Kershaw lacked diversity between the speed of his fastball and slider, making him an easier at-bat for the Red Sox.

Kershaw is undergoing a backslide from peak health/stuff similar to another heavy-workload lefty, CC Sabathia. It took Sabathia three seasons to fully accept the new reality and adapt into a useful, finesse mid-rotation piece.

Another lefty, David Price, already has done well recreating himself by countering some lost velocity with diversity, especially with refinement and reliance on a cutter and changeup. Still, there is strong expectation Price, 33, will not opt out of the four years at $127 million left on his contract because he would be unable to match or better that amount on the open market. That is likely true. But here is a question you would not have considered even four months ago: Is Price a better projection for, say, the next five years than Kershaw?

Teams will have to believe Kershaw can transition and — even if they did — what is that worth? Organizations have more and more moved away from giving long-term big money to players in their 30s. And the status of starters in a reliever-heavy environment has never been lower.

Kershaw has been associated with the Rangers because he was raised in Dallas. But Texas is in a rebuild. Can Kershaw beat $65 million in total somewhere? Probably. But with a $30 million-plus average value? That is less probable.

The Dodgers’ analytic-leaning front office would dismiss a generic starter with Kershaw’s signs of decline. But Kershaw is not generic to the Dodgers. He is one of the best players in their history, even with another poor start in World Series Game 1 contributing to a spotty postseason ledger. Ownership could decide legacy is important enough to extend the lefty. Magic Johnson is part of the ownership, as he was with the Lakers when they kept Kobe Bryant beyond his prime, in part because he was a career-long star in a star town.

In Casey Close, Kershaw has an experienced agent who will have a feel for what is possible in the market. Close also represents Masahiro Tanaka, who last offseason decided not to opt out from the final three years at $67 million on his seven-year contract. Kershaw could always avoid the uncertainty of the market by wrapping himself in Dodger blue and saying it was always his intentions to fulfill the seven-year pact. He is a prideful person, though, and could he feel spurned and leave if the Dodgers do not offer further inducements to stay?

Beyond Kershaw, here is the rest of a top five of World Series performers with interesting free-agency questions:

2. Has Manny Machado cost himself money this postseason with his words and lack of hustle? I think of John Mara complaining Odell Beckham Jr. needs to talk less or the Mets chirping behind the scenes that Yoenis Cespedes is an injury-prone diva. The people who gave large contracts to Beckham and Cespedes knew exactly who they were before doling out the cash. Why would the players change? They got the money with the dubious behavior. The money served as reinforcement that the actions were fine regardless of what promises of improvement were made during negotiations.

Machado is a great player, and you will find folks who will say he is a good teammate. But it is not hard to find less-than-sterling reviews about the person and his work habits. This postseason Machado doubled down on play that could be viewed as hot-headed and/or dirty and literally said hustling is not particularly his thing to explain at times lackadaisical effort.

He is from Miami and wore 13 with the Orioles for his idol, Alex Rodriguez, and there are a lot of A-Rod-ish polarizing tendencies here. No one can give him $300 million-plus and then act like that is going away. It is part of the persona, part of the package.

3. How much can a peaking starter with two Tommy John surgeries in his past get? Tyler Chatwood received three years at $38 million last offseason, to a large degree because the Cubs loved his spin rate and thought the righty would flourish out of the high altitude of Colorado. (He didn’t.)

Nathan Eovaldi has two Tommy Johns in his past (though the second one was considered more a ligament tightening than a full-blown procedure). But he doesn’t turn 29 until February, has a great rep as a teammate and has never thrown better than now. If anything by fluctuating between starting and relief in the playoffs and still throwing 100 mph easily in tandem with his burgeoning cutter, the Red Sox righty is exhibiting health and that he can flourish under pressure. I think four years at $80 million is possible — who knows, maybe more.

4. How much does a bad October matter? When this month began, Yasmani Grandal was projected as the best free-agent catcher. He just had his best season — only Marlins star J.T. Realmuto had a higher Wins Above Average among catchers. Grandal was a switch-hitter with power and a good defensive reputation who does not turn 30 until next month. With the dearth of catchers, matching Russell Martin’s five-year, $82.5 million haul did not seem far-fetched.

But he has been so bad on both sides of the ball that he has lost his starting job to Austin Barnes. Grandal botched pitches and as a hitter is 3-for-25 with 12 strikeouts, making him 7-for-71 with 32 strikeouts in his postseason career.

5. How much will the “tipping” excuse matter to teams? This is becoming the dog ate my homework to alibi away poor pitching. And with as much sign-stealing as is going on, it is easier to buy. Boston’s Craig Kimbrel struggled early in the playoffs, and the Red Sox defended that opponents knew what the closer was going to throw — and Kimbrel has been better the last few outings.

But during the season, his homer and walk rates rose and his strikeout rates fell. Was that all tipping? If not, it may be difficult for Kimbrel — despite equivalent career accomplishments — to reach the financial heights of the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen and the Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman, who received five-year, $80 million and $86 million deals, respectively, two offseasons ago.