Peter Seidler picked the right metaphor. The Dodgers really are of the dragon species.

Gone are the fun days when John Moores could say he felt a “little sorry” for the Dodgers, when Kevin Towers could tell L.A. reporters the Dodgers lacked heart, when Larry Lucchino could troll the whole franchise.

Compared to those Dodgers, the Dodgers of the past two Octobers stand as the polar opposite. They’re smart and feisty, clutch and cohesive. Exploiting their unmatched resources and an MLB system that caters to the bigger media markets, they will spend whatever it takes.

Meanwhile, here in Major League Baseball’s 26th-ranked media market, while the Padres remain a top-10 team, there’s a gnawing concern that a recent Dodgers-Padres outcome created a double-whammy.

The Padres’ not burying the

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