A familiar powerhouse waits, but one usual spoiler may be stepping out of the frame.
For the better part of a decade, the NL West has been a measuring-stick division with one unavoidable reality: everything runs through the Dodgers. 12 titles in 13 years is not a quirk; it’s a gravitational pull. The San Diego Padres have spent seasons building, retooling, and sprinting to catch that standard, and when they’ve pushed, the division has felt electric and volatile. As 2025 closes, that familiar tension is already humming again — only this time, the chase looks simpler on paper.