Juan Soto had barely landed, Josh Bell had just sat down and Josh Hader was starting to learn his new teammates’ names when Peter Seidler, the Padres’ owner, declared that "the art of the possible is here.”
But just as quickly as the Padres had reset all expectations for their season — and the franchise’s future — with a frenzied whirlwind at the MLB trading deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers delivered a fiery reminder of what San Diego still has to overcome, sweeping their division rivals in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
As the sweep was happening, Seidler said the Dodgers remain "the dragon up the freeway that we’re trying to slay.”