Padres Fans Will Love Manny Machado's Comments on the Dodgers

Oct 5, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) scores a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game one of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres are looking for revenge in 2025.

Things are still stinging since last season as it ended far earlier than anyone would have liked in Game 5 of the NLDS.

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Winning 93 regular season games shows that the current roster is still very talented, but a quiet offseason that saw a few key pieces leave and free agents get linked to San Diego only to land elsewhere was frustrating, to say the least.

This plus the pairing of an ownership lawsuit hanging over the franchise and the desire to shed payroll left a lot of uncertainty to Friar Faithful ahead of 2025.

Recently, the offseason has been red-hot seeing All-Stars, demonstrated veterans, and Cy Young-equivalent pitchers join the team.

There also appears to be a common thread motivating this team that plays about two hours away via the I-5 freeway.

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Losing in the NLDS is never easy, but when it's to the Los Angeles Dodgers, that can hurt infinitely more.

Padres superstar Manny Machado told USA Today's Bob Nightengale that the competition not just with L.A., but the stacked NL West is going to be igniting a fire under the team all season.

“Our division now is by far the best division in baseball,” Machado said. “Hands down. We’ve got four teams who could make the playoffs.

“The Dodgers are [bleeping] good, man. But we’re excited to take them down. There’s nothing better than having a championship team in your division that you can knock off.”

Taking down the most talked about team in baseball would be sweet, but knowing the recent postseason history makes it that much sweeter.

Both the Padres and Dodgers have talented rosters, but their respective approaches could not be more different.

L.A. loudly went after seemingly every free agent and made blockbuster signing after signing. San Diego was slow, methodical, and have perfectly crafted the team that they believe will blow last year's roster out of the water.

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