Turns out that Walker Buehler's Dodgers betrayal is a full-circle moment for Padres

From the Dodgers’ point of view, this whole Padres-Walker Buehler origin story is kind of funny. San Diego is out here discovering, 14 years later, that Buehler was once supposed to be their guy.

Dodgers fans are probably reading that and thinking: yeah, and then Los Angeles turned him into exactly the kind of weapon San Diego has spent years trying to survive. That is the part that matters. The “what if” is cute. The actual result is much more brutal. 

Back in the 2012 draft, Buehler believed there was a real path to landing with the Padres at pick 55. He said there was “somewhat of an agreement,” and the family comfort level mattered because he was only 17. Instead, San Diego took Max Fried and Zach Eflin earlier, then the infamous “Walker… Weichel” moment happened, and Buehler took his ball and headed to Vanderbilt. 

Walker Buehler’s Padres backstory makes Dodgers’ rise look even more devastating

Three years later, he re-entered the draft and was taken 24th overall by the Dodgers — by some of the same evaluators who had passed on him while in San Diego. 

And once Buehler became a Dodger, he basically turned into a walking Padres stress test. The résumé speaks for itself: major postseason starts, huge-game credibility, a central role on championship teams, and years of looking entirely too comfortable against San Diego.

Tom Krasovic’s column notes Buehler posted a 1.61 ERA against the Padres over 13 regular-season games, his best mark against any team he faced in multiple starts. Of course he did. Of course the guy they almost had became one of the faces of the machine that kept tormenting them. 

In San Diego, the story is regret. In Los Angeles, it is validation. Buehler is one more reminder that the Dodgers don’t just collect talent — they tend to be the place where high-end talent becomes fully weaponized.

Even Dave Roberts’ recent reflection on Buehler’s ugly-but-vital 2024 NLDS outing against the Padres says a lot. Roberts called those extra outs crucial to winning the rest of the series, which feels very Dodgers: even when Buehler was not at his cleanest, he was still helping bury San Diego in the bigger picture. 

Now Buehler is in Padres camp on a minor-league deal at age 31, trying to earn a role after stops with Boston and Philadelphia and after saying San Diego offered the better chance to start. He recently made his spring debut and said his body finally feels better again. Maybe this turns into a nice late-career chapter for him.

But the full-circle part is already set in stone. The Padres missed him once, the Dodgers maximized him, and that development gap haunted San Diego for years. That is the real story.