Why the three-way trade helps the San Diego Padres, and why it hurts

No room for Allen on the starting rotation

Meanwhile, Logan Allen had certainly flashed potential in the Padres system, but it was clear that there wasn’t any room for him on this starting rotation moving forward.

In reality, Allen had been pitching with the Padres strictly due to the lack of MLB-ready depth at the position; one could even argue that he wasn’t ready to be called up after only 18 total games in Triple-A.

Allen had a stellar debut back in June but has pitched poorly ever since. It’s to be expected — the rookie has only started four games and relieved four games this season in San Diego. He certainly looked good in Double- and Triple-A back in 2017 and 2018, but he has a 6.75 ERA and 1.776 WHIP this season.

The biggest obstacle for him was the sheer amount of hot talent lava in the Padres minor league system. San Diego expects to roll with a rotation of Chris Paddack, MacKenzie Gore, Garrett Richards, one of Joey Lucchesi or Eric Lauer, and perhaps a top-of-the-rotation starter as soon as 2020. Consider other prospects like Luis Patiño and Ryan Weathers, and Allen has no place on that rotation.

Even the bullpen is expected to be crowded. Allen might’ve been able to grab a spot there in the future, but all things considered, he’s just become dispensable. His relief appearances have been awful this season and the experiment has come to an end.

Ultimately, Preller thought that a prospect in a position with minor league depth was worth a top prospect of need. Allen had been cited has part of a trade package in weeks leading up to the deadline too, so this was a good move.

Nevertheless, the good always comes with the bad, so let’s see why this might hurt the team.