3 realities San Diego Padres fans need to accept and 1 fantasy that may yet come true

Xander Bogaerts put it best when he said "there's not a lot of tomorrows left" for the San Diego Padres. And he's right: if this sleeping juggernaut doesn't launch into overdrive soon, Bogaerts and his teammates could be out of luck in 2023.

Considering we're nearly halfway through the season, the ability to claim that it's early or that San Diego's underperformance is entirely due to bad luck or suspensions or injuries is now irrelevant. In keeping with this theme, it's time for Padres fans to accept these three realities about the 2023 season.

1) "Super teams" like the San Diego Padres rarely function as intended

Good news, Padres fans: your team isn't the only one seeing this reality play out the hard way.

Across baseball this season, teams with high payrolls like the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays are underperforming across the board. Even the Dodgers, who have baseball's fifth-highest payroll per Spotrac, are trailing the 21st-ranked Arizona Diamondbacks, who currently occupy first place in the NL West.

So if money doesn't buy you success, then what does? That's a question the Padres have yet to answer. But all you need to do is look at the NBA as an example of how super teams are far from a sure thing.

When was the last time an NBA "super team" won a title? The Golden State Warriors' dynasty comes to mind, but even in that instance, their players were mostly drafted and developed in house, save for Kevin Durant.

The point being: having the most talent doesn't equal automatic success. No matter the sport.

2) The NL West is (probably) out of the picture for the San Diego Padres in 2023

As of the writing of this piece, the Padres sit 10.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. And while that's not an insurmountable deficit (the Atlanta Braves demonstrated that last year in the NL East), it's not likely that San Diego can reach the top of that mountain in 2023.

In fact, the Padres are closer to the last-place Colorado Rockies in their division than they are to Arizona. And with the San Francisco Giants punching above their weight too, that only adds another obstacle for San Diego to overcome in addition to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are always relevant.

In other words? The Padres have to outplay three teams in their own division to have a shot at clinching the NL West in 2023. And given how San Diego has played this season overall, there shouldn't be a lot of optimism on that front.

3) The consequences of going all-in this season will extend way beyond 2023 for the San Diego Padres

If underachieving this season despite fully committing to it is bad enough, then what the future holds will be way worse.

San Diego is smaller market, not to be confused with the likes of ... New York or Los Angeles, for example. And that means this current strategy of spending gobs of money to win now just isn't sustainable long term.

Crippling debt, Bally Sports' bankruptcy and one of the sport's highest payrolls? The Padres have dug themselves deep into a hole of financial instability that only the loftiest heights of winning can even begin to help cover.

Owner Peter Seidler may openly express a desire to win at any cost, but what he may not realize is that the damage is already being done. The incredible risk he's taking to field this "super team" isn't paying off, and that could spell trouble for the Padres and their fans much sooner than expected.