Padres' Juan Soto brushes off rivalry with Dodgers: 'They should be worrying about us'
It's been one of the better baseball rivalries in recent years, and San Diego Padres star outfielder Juan Soto just added fuel to the fire when he was asked about their National League West division rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I think we don’t worry about them," Soto said on TBS before the Padres game against the New York Mets on Tuesday. "They should be worrying about us. We showed up last year. We showed them what we had in the playoff … and beat them. Now we add more players. We have more depth in our lineup. We have one of the best bullpens in the league. I think they should be worried about us. We’re not worried about anybody."
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The Padres, off to a 7-5 start, finally overcame their nemesis last year in the playoffs, beating the Dodgers 3-1 in the NL Division Series, but lost in the NL Championship Series to the Philadelphia Phillies.
But the tide has seemed to shift between the two teams. The Padres spent a lot of money this offseason (third-highest payroll) by adding All-Star Xander Bogaerts, who is now one of the highest-paid shortstops in 2023, DH Nelson Cruz and DH/1B Matt Carpenter via free agency and will have outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. eligible to return from suspension on April 20.
The two rivals will play fewer games against each other in 2023 due to the new balanced schedule (13 games vs. 19). But until last October, the Dodgers owned the Padres in recent years. In 2022 the Dodgers were 14-5 vs. the Padres, 12-7 in 2021, 6-4 in 2020 shortened season (swept in the NLDS 3-0), 13-6 in 2019 and 14-5 in 2018.
Of course, Soto didn't join the Padres until last August in blockbuster trade with the Washington Nationals, but he's brought plenty of swag.
Soto will have to wait for May 5 for the Padres' first game against the Dodgers, but there's already plenty of bulletin board material to go around to motivate the two teams.