Padres hailed as ‘best team in baseball’ by bitter Dodgers rival

Though Mookie Betts won the 2024 World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he believes that the San Diego Padres were a more talented team than them.

Padres rival calls San Diego the most talented MLB team last season

The former 2018 American League MVP had this to say on his “On Base With Mookie Betts” podcast about the Padres not only being better than his Dodgers, but every other team too (h/t Sebastian Abdon Ibarra of Dodgerblue.com).

“We’re playing them and at the time, to be fair, they were way more talented than we were. That was probably the most talented team I’ve seen. They were the best team in baseball,” Betts said.

The Padres had a season-high four All-MLB honorees in 2024

The Padres are stacked. It’s no secret. That was put on Front Street during award season. San Diego led the Majors with the most All-MLB Team honorees. Superstar third baseman Manny Machado, ace Dylan Cease, star righty Michael King, and standout rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill all took home Second Team honors.

Padres also deployed several past & present All-Stars

The bus does not stop there though. The Padres also had All-Stars in left fielder Jurickson Profar, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., infielder Luis Arraez, and closer Robert Suarez, in addition to Merrill.

That doesn’t even include their former All-Stars in shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and starting pitcher Yu Darvish, as well as stout bullpen support from star rookies Yuki Matsui and Adrian Morejon. Elite talent could be found all the way up and down the Padres’ roster in 2024.

Padres will look to defeat other talented teams in quest for 2025 World Series crown

The Dodgers had an incredible cast of their own at full strength, with three former MVPs in Betts, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, and first baseman Freddie Freeman, as well as a formidable pitching staff with three, if not four full-fledged aces in Tyler Glasnow, Jack Flaherty, Clayton Kershaw, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Other teams like the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies were also littered with incredible performers, but San Diego may have taken the cake.

The Padres will have to eat it too next season if they want to win the World Series. Their star-studded cast will look to get back at the Dodgers for beating them in the 2024 National League Division Series and hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy next fall.