The San Diego Padres sure don’t feel like little brother anymore to the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.

Buoyed by a stunning victory against the 111-win Dodgers in the NL Division Series and owner Peter Seidler’s fearless offseason spending, the Padres are poised to make a run at the NL West title as well as a World Series crown that has always been out of reach.

The Padres will begin the most-anticipated season in their mostly sad-sack history with a lineup featuring Juan Soto, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado. On April 20, manager Bob Melvin will begin writing a fourth superstar into the lineup when Fernando Tatis Jr. is eligible to return from an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Shockingly, the Padres will have a bigger payroll than the Dodgers, who have won nine of the last 10 NL West titles. San Diego’s projected payroll of $255 million will rank third behind only the New York Mets and Yankees.

Seidler — a third-generation member of the O’Malley family that used to own the Dodgers — authorized general manager A.J. Preller to sign Machado to a new $350 million, 11-year contract; Bogaerts to a $280 million, 11-year free agent deal; and ace Yu Darvish to a new $108 million, six-year contract.

The Dodgers sat out the free agent frenzy while losing All-Star Trea Turner and letting stalwarts Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner go. Additionally, they have some key injuries going into opening day.

The turning point in what had been a one-sided rivalry came on a rainy October Saturday night when Petco Park shook as the Padres rallied to beat the Dodgers 5-3 and win the NLDS in four games. The Padres lost the NLCS to Philadelphia in five games.

“All the excitement that you feel as a kid about your hometown team, beating the rival and going to the playoffs, all of those things I got to kind of live firsthand for my hometown team,” said RHP Joe Musgrove.