Having already damned the torpedoes by doling out massive extensions to Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, the San Diego Padres now hope to extend superstar outfielder Juan Soto and closer Josh Hader, both of whom they traded for at last year's deadline, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Padres have already amassed their largest-ever payroll, so new deals for Soto and Hader would surely push them into the luxury tax. Not that the Padres care about that sort of thing.

“Just given his age [24] and his talent,” Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts told the New York Post, “I can’t imagine the amount he will get. It’s crazy, man. You can never count these guys out. They’ve done stuff that no one would have thought they’d ever do.”

To be sure, the Padres are unlikely to reach an agreement with Soto anytime soon. The 24 year-old Soto is still two years away from free agency. Moreover, Scott Boras is Soto's agent and is famously loath to sign early extensions. But even if the Padres can't immediately lock up Soto, they're putting the rest of the league on notice that they'll spare no expense to win a World Series.

“It’s very rare that a team can put together a group of players in the primes of their careers, or close to the prime, where there are four players at this level,” Boras told the New York Post. “For the Padres, they’ve moved a mountain to San Diego. And it’s called Mt. Crushmore.”

By ditching the miserly, anti-competitive small-market mindset that plagues a shockingly large number of MLB teams, the Padres have established themselves as contenders for the foreseeable future.