LOS ANGELES — To say acquiring Juan Soto (and Josh Bell, Josh Hader and Brandon Drury) took things to a new level for the Padres is like saying the traffic leaving Dodger Stadium can back up.
There is almost no way to quantify how big it is. Or might be.
The truth is, as much as the Padres have never been here before, they have been here before.
Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller "won" the trade deadline in 2020 and the offseason in 2021. The former delivered, the latter disappointed.
And now this, a surreal two days in which one of MLB's perennial also-rans made five trades that netted four major league players that include arguably the game's best position player and best relief pitcher.
"We have the team to compete," Manny Machado said. "And definitely A.J. and his staff, they went out there and they went for it. That gives players confidence in knowing that you go out there and perform every single day and try to reach a goal. You can talk about it, but I think it's a reality here. I think this is the right group. I know we've made moves in the past, but definitely this seems like it's been the right ones."
It's practically unfathomable to think the improvements won't help secure the franchise's sixth playoff appearance in 54 years — and first following a 162-game season since 2006.
Manager Bob Melvin was asked Wednesday night if expectations had changed for the Padres.
He let out something between a chuckle and a sigh.
"Yes," he said as he closed his eyes and bowed his head.
After a pause, as if realizing a one-word answer left a lot to the imagination, Melvin added, "We had high expectations regardless, so that doesn't change for us. But when we bring in players like that, certainly."
By virtually every account, there has never been a midseason trade like the one that brought Soto and Bell to San Diego. They rank fifth (Soto at 161) and 11th (Bell at 154), respectively, in the major leagues in adjusted OPS. Drury (127) is 35th. Hader, acquired the day before those two deals were made, leads the major leagues with 29 saves.
Machado has by a large margin been the Padres' best player. His adjusted OPS is tied with Bell, who takes over for a first baseman (Eric Hosmer) whose adjusted OPS was 43 points lower. Before acquiring Hader, the Padres had demoted their closer (Taylor Rogers).
And Drury might have been the most remarkable piece, almost extraneous, unless a team was trying to gain a kind of versatility and depth that is almost without match — a team like the Dodgers.
"I don't like talking about the Dodgers," Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar said.
Understandable.
Set aside the fact the Dodgers have won the season series every year since 2011 and entered Friday's game 135-70 against the Padres in that span.
Craig Stammen, who is on the injured list, is the only Padres player who was in the major leagues when that misery began. Melvin hadn't even started managing the A's yet. Peter Seidler, whose grandfather moved the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, was just about to be asked to become part of the group that would buy the Padres.
Look only to the last calendar year.
The Dodgers have won five of the seven games between the teams this season, swept the final three series they played against the Padres in 2021 and have won 12 of the past 13 times they have met at Dodger Stadium.
The so-called rivalry isn't lopsided. It is ridiculously one-sided.
The results over the next three days don't necessarily mean much in the grand scheme.
There is no need to focus on one team just yet. The trade deadline moves, in the short term, were not about catching the Dodgers, who lead the Padres by 12 1/2 games in the National League West.
This was about October.
"I think we are very ready to make a deep run in the playoffs," Profar said. "We've still got a long way to go. But we're ready. We're ready. We're ready."
But the Dodgers are the perennial class of the division, the team and the ideal to strive for.
So, the timing of the series is good.
It offers an opportunity to point out the Padres appear to have closed the talent gap. A cynical "Again?" might be prudent. But there is no denying the Padres took a jump.
The Dodgers have six regulars with an adjusted OPS of 116 or higher. On Monday, the Padres had three. Now they have six.
One guy who doesn't shy from talking about the Dodgers is the one who grew up a Padres fan.
"It's definitely a lot of added confidence," Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove said. "When you look at some of the other rosters around the league, and especially up north a little bit with the Dodgers, sometimes you look at that and it's, 'This is gonna be tough.' We have to play our best baseball every single night and there's no room for error. I feel like with a couple of additions we've made, it's a very even playing field now. We still gotta go up there and play hard and play right and still win games, but the confidence level is a lot higher in here now."
