Dodgers All-Star Shoots Down Padres as LA's Rival

Gabe Smallson | Jun 10, 2025

Oct 9, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy (13) hits a double in the third inning against the San Diego Padres during game four of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres started a stretch of 10 games in one week against the divisional rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, but an L.A. All-Star doesn't quite buy into the rivalry between the two ball clubs.

The Friars and Dodgers have been one of baseball's most intense rivalries since 2020, but third baseman Max Muncy seemed to point at his team's longest-tenured rival as the only one they have.

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"The Padres bring everything that is in a rivalry, but you only have one rival," Muncy said on Foul Territory. "I don't like when people say you have rivals. If you have a rival, it's your counterpart, and that's always going to be the [San Francisco] Giants for the Dodgers, at least. That's always going to be the [Boston] Red Sox for the [New York] Yankees."

Max Muncy says the Giants will always be the Dodgers only rival.

"For me, your rival is just one team. You don't have multiple teams as your rival." pic.twitter.com/9az5E3QDmX

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 9, 2025

Regardless of how the All-Star wants to categorize each team in his division, it's no secret that the bad blood between the NL West powerhouses has reached new heights over the last few seasons.

A mix of tension, passionate fans, and the various situations an MLB season brings can create new matchups between teams that didn't correspond with how those teams interacted in the late 1800s, when the Dodgers and Giants rivalry was first born.

Muncy still sees the Padres as a team that has simply been winning more in recent years and playing L.A. in more intense scenarios than the past.

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“By definition, you can’t just decide to choose your rivalry because one team gets good,” Muncy said via the Los Angeles Times' Jack Harris. “And for the Dodgers, that’ll always be the Giants.”

Historically, there are no flaws in Muncy's reasoning, but with current divisional scenarios — and not to mention, three October matchups in the last five seasons — there is no denying that the Padres pose a giant threat to the Dodgers.

At the end of the day, the only narrative that San Diego can control is how they will fare against the divisional 'rivals' up North during this gauntlet of competitive baseball.

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For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.