
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Padres come to LA for the first time this weekend and look to even things out with the Dodgers after losing two out of three from the boys in blue down in San Diego last weekend. Last year the Dodgers were 19-7 on May 8, and today they are 21-15, one-half game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They would go on to be 54-22 in their division and win 111 games last year, the second most ever in the National League. Yes, we are only 36 games into the season, and there still are 126 games to go, but things are beginning to feel different.

Corbin Carrol, speed on the bases and playing small ball – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
There are two significant differences this season. One, the Padres are, on paper, a much-improved club, and two, the Diamondbacks are looking like genuine contenders for the NL Western Division this year as they have taken advantage of the rule changes. Using their speed on the bases and playing “small ball,” they now threaten the mighty Dodgers and powerful Padres. They are second in batting at .272 to the Tampa Bay Rays at .275. Yet they rank sixteenth in home runs. That, my friends, is old-school baseball. The Diamondbacks are ranked number 21 in MLB payroll at $114.8 million.

Manny Machado has to step it up – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
With their big superstar payroll of $251.1 million, San Diego is batting .233 as a team and are the third highest in payroll behind the Mets, $336.1 million, who are batting .236, and the Yankees, $268 million, who are in last place ten games behind the Rays and batting .231 for the 2023 season. Can these big payroll clubs begin to show the rest of baseball that they are worth it?

Juan Soto. Looking to regain his form – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
Juan Soto, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, five home runs, .220, is better than that. Manny Machado, of Dominican heritage, is batting .252 with four home runs. He, too, is better than that. Finally, Xander Bogaerts, Oranjestad, Aruba, six home runs .283, and Fernando Tatis Jr., San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic, 4 home runs, .290 are earning their pay. Obviously, the billionaires who pay these players these enormous sums of money are being told they will win a World Series if they lock big named players into long-term contracts.

Xander Bogaerts is earning his pay – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports

Fernando Tatis. Latino MVP award winner. (Picture courtesy of San Diego Padres)
If the millionaire Padres players can play to their potential, they will blow everyone out of the water in the NL West. Like the rest of California, will they finally come out of their drought and put it together this year?
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