Wait, what?  Are you serious?  We have Helton for the same time period as we would have Gonzales.  Why would we EVER consider this possibility?  Hear me out fellow Purple Row readers.  For I think I have a plan to make the Rockies even better than they are now.

First off, what is wrong with the Rockies?  Our vaunted offense has a tendency to disappear at the worst times this year.  Mostly when we have to deal with the pain and agony of our "B" lineup because some of our players must sit so they don't wear out late in the season.

What could we do that would help fix this?  Lets reduce by one the number of positions where we have to sit a player AND upgrade/increase the youth at that position. Let's go get Adrian Gonzales!

Now part of the challenge is that the Padres are doing well as their young pitchers are playing out of their minds.  So for this to work we need them to come back down to earth very soon.  Just looking at their record and applying Doug Moe's logic of home losses-road wins leads to them being in 2nd place behind our Colorado Rockies and tied with the Dodgers and Giants.  This actually fits with the fact that their young staff is pitching very well early on as they are able to generate a lot of early home wins in a GREAT pitchers park.  Once they come back to earth the sale is on

Once this happens the Rockies need to be there with an offer that makes the Padres think "Ok, in our own division we would normally say no, but that is too good to pass up."  So, what can the Rockies offer that qualifies?  First off, we have to consider what has been offered in the past.  Considering that every possible trade put forward included a "Top prospect" ours must do so as well.  And since we are asking the Padres to trad the face of the franchise within the division this better be a TOP prospect.  I suggest...Jhoulys Chacin.   Very simply he is Major League ready (as proven by his starts so far).  He is young and he is supremely talented.  With him in the equation this is a powerful trade already.

The other pieces that I would suggest be added in are Todd Helton and Michael McKenry.  And the Rockies will take on a portion of Todd's contract this year.  Here is the logic.  This gives the Padres a solid long term backup and even possibly starting catcher in addition to Hundley.  The addition of Helton fills in first base for the Padres and gives them an experienced veteran to help all the kids coming up.   We eat a portion of the contract since the Padres are in cost control mode and they help us create the opening for Gonzales.

For the Rockies this gives us, well a younger Todd Helton with all his power from the same point in his career.  We have him for the rest of this season, next season and if he leaves as a Free Agent we will have had time to either find a replacement or to even negotiate a longer term contract.  This is a player who in one of the worst hitter parks in baseball has been a stellar hitter.  Move him to Coors and you now have a guy who will put up even better numbers.  And he fills in the 3 hole in front of Tulo and Hawpe quite nicely.  AND CAN DO IT EVERY SINGLE GAME!  The question would be is this worth a couple more wins, which is likely all it is going to give us.  I think it is.  I think the upgrades offensively and defensively by adding Gonzales and leaving Giambi on the bench are very much worth it.

This is not something that is likely to happen.  And even I see the arguments against this, but right now the Rockies have a legitimate chance at not only the NL West, but we could really take the whole thing.  Our core of pitchers is strong enough we can survive without Chacin and to get a talent like Gonzales we need to give up a talent like Chacin.  Hopefully this generates some discussion here.  Thank you.