This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here . And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

How do I know that one Padres-Dodgers series after the Trade Deadline isn’t actually going to determine all that much?

Well, the Padres eliminated the Dodgers in the 2022 playoffs. L.A. returned the favor in ‘24. Does anyone remember what happened when those teams met shortly after the Deadline in each of those two seasons?

I do. I remember the Padres being swept at Dodger Stadium in August 2022 and the bleak feeling in the clubhouse afterward. I remember San Diego taking both games at Petco Park last summer and the feeling of possibility. Really, what did either of those series mean in the end?

That’s not to say this wasn’t

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