The Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract on Tuesday night, sent a message to every other team in the league that the bar has been raised even higher by 2025. But this is especially true for the San Diego Padres. LA’s premier competition in the NL West – and the team that comes within one game of knocking the Dodgers out of the postseason for the second time in the last three years.

Even though the Padres came close to reaching the NLCS and beyond last season, the climb will only get steeper next year as the Dodgers add a two-time Cy Young winner to their rotation (and Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound ). And with Manny Machado not getting any younger and Dylan Cease, Michael King and Luis Arraez entering contract years, now is the time for San Diego to maximize its championship window. That means the Padres are really, really under pressure right now – and if they want to finally get over World Series trouble, they need their general manager, and especially a player, to help them get revenge on LA

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The Dodgers already have Snell on the roster, but they’re far from finished strengthening the rotation. Because as high as Snell’s ceiling is, he’s not the most reliable ace around, and Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Bobby Miller are all big question marks (health or otherwise) heading into 2025. Andrew Friedman will add at least one more arm in this winter, and it is Clera who is at the top of his wish list: Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who is one of the most sought-after free agents of the offseason.

At just 23 years old, Sasaki has real top quality, and since he is considered an international amateur free agent, teams don’t have to spend a lot of money to sign him. This is great news for the Dodgers, who would like to improve their rotation without adding further strain to their payroll. And given its location, recent track record and a roster that features several players who played with Sasaki on Team Japan, Los Angeles has long been considered the favorite to land the hard-throwing right-hander.

But if anyone can jump in here, it’s the Padres, who happen to have an ace up their sleeve: righty Yu Darvish, Sasaki’s close friend and mentor. It’s no exaggeration to say that the fate of the National League could hinge on this particular sweepstakes: While the Mets still have a chance to make a Juan Soto-sized splash this winter, it was San Diego that did Dodgers’ toughest battle came in October; And given the team’s personnel shortages, Sasaki could be their best chance to give their rotation a fighting chance. If Darvish and GM AJ Preller come through, San Diego will have no reason to be afraid of the Dodgers’ entry next season. However, when you get close to it, you can almost hear the window closing.