There’s seemingly no love lost between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres when they go head-to-head, and that’s been on full display this season.
Manny Machado can often be found at the center of events whenever tensions rise between the two sides. But as a three-time National League All-Star since joining the Padres in 2019, Machado has played alongside Dodgers players for one game out of the year.
Machado and two of his Padres teammates were together with Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to defeat the American League in the 2025 All-Star Game.
The Padres’ third baseman is hostile toward the Dodgers as a competitor, but has a deep respect for players like Kershaw and Freeman as a fellow member of the MLB fraternity.
As the crowd at Truist Park showered Freeman and Kershaw with applause after their respective exits from the game, Machado recognized the significance of the moment.
“You’re talking about legends of the game. I think the game is above competition,” Machado said. “Look at these guys, what they’ve done, 3,000 Ks. You had two future Hall-of-Famers right there coming off that field.
“Especially Freddie. This was his home for a very long time. I thought it was pretty cool.”
Machado was Dodgers teammates with Kershaw for half a season in 2018 after being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline.
Following the Dodgers’ loss to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series that season, Machado went on to sign a 10-year, $300 million contract with the Padres in free agency.
It was the largest free-agent contract in American sports history until Bryce Harper’s 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks later.
Manny Machado wants to dethrone Dodgers
Machado has been very open about his desire to overtake the Dodgers this season after falling short in the NL Division Series in 2024.
The Dodgers have won five of their seven matchups so far in 2025. The Padres won the season series last year.
Machado has also praised the level of completion in the NL West this season, declaring the Dodgers and Padres part of a “four-headed monster” in the division.
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