The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline is quickly approaching with the deadline being its customary date of July 31st on a yearly basis.

I will try and tackle every Major League team as the deadline approaches to see if they will be buyers, sellers or stick to their current roster.

I will be basing my assumptions on the direction the team is going, their record as of the date I post the article, possible roster injuries and so on and so forth.

I will provide the information about each team by division.

I began with the National League East’s Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins & Washington Nationals.

I continued with a look at the NL Central’s Cincinnati Reds, St.Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Earlier today I moved onto the NL West with a look at the San Diego Padres.

I will now continue my look at the NL West with the Colorado Rockies.

Coming into the All-Star break the Rockies sat second in the NL West with a record of 49-39, two games behind the division leading Padres.

The Rockies were successful in earning the NL wild card last season before being ousted in the playoffs in the opening round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the off-season the Rockies looked to improve an already impressive ball club consisting of impressive talent such as Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez, Carlos Gonzalez and more.

The team added catcher Miguel Olivo on a one year deal worth $2.5 million with a 2011 option to share catching duties with Chris Iannetta, replacing Yorvit Torrealba. They also added veteran infielder Melvin Mora (one year, $1.275 million) and brought back big bat Jason Giambi (one year, $1.75 million), who was signed as a free agent after playing last season with the same Rockies club.

The Rockies were shopping outfielder Brad Hawpe in the off-season hoping to earn a big return for the player after he hit .285 with 23HR & 86RBI, but the team was unsuccessful.

With the Rockies relying on a bevy of young home grown talent mixed with established veterans the team once again hoped to return to the playoffs under manager Jim Tracy, who signed an extension with the club after taking over the team in the middle of 2009.

The Rockies have an effective starting rotation led by ace Ubaldo Jimenez, who is having a breakout season posting a record of 15-1 with an ERA of 2.20 establishing him as the best pitcher thus far in the league. Joining Jimenez in the rotation is Aaron Cook (3-5, 4.88ERA), 2009 standout Jorge De La Rosa (3-1, 4.94ERA), who missed a good chunk of May & June after an injury to a finger, Jason Hammel (7-3, 4.08ERA) and the returning Jeff Francis (2-3, 5.14ERA) who was a seventeen game winner in 2007, but struggled in 2008 and missed all of 2009.

The Rockies bullpen is middle of the pack in the NL in ERA, but has proven effective with closer Huston Street (1-1, 2.19ERA, 5SV in 5SVO in 11 games) anchoring the bullpen since his return from injury along with right-handers Matt Belisle (4-4, 2.63ERA), Rafael Betancourt (1-1, 5.06ERA), Jhoulys Chacin (5-7, 4.09ERA) who has moved to the bullpen since filling in admirably as a starter & Manuel Corpas (3-5, 4.60ERA, 10SV in 14SVO). Left-handers Joe Beimel (1-0, 2.28ERA) & Randy Flores (2-0, 3.10ERA) round out the bullpen.

Offensively the team relies on a young, talented core this season featuring shortstop Tulowitzki (.306, 9HR, 34RBI), who is currently on the disabled list with a broken left wrist and is not scheduled to return to play until late July or early August, as well as outfielder Carlos Gonzalez (.314, 17HR, 60RBI) who is showcasing his five tool talent, Seth Smith (.287, 12HR, 38RBI) who is breaking away from his bench role & Ian Stewart, who is now playing third base on an everyday basis. The team is also receiving excellent production out of Olivo (.325, 11HR, 42RBI) behind the plate.

Carlos Gonzalez has been the Rockies best player this season.

The Rockies are primed to reach the playoffs yet again, but the competition in the NL West has become very stiff with the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers & San Francisco Giants all proving themselves worthy of being a playoff team thus far.

With other NL teams such as the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and St.Louis Cardinals all battling it out for division leads several teams may be in the wild card race come the end of the season, which means the Rockies may have to win their division to return to the promised land.

The Rockies are currently without Tulowitzki and veteran leader Todd Helton (back stiffness) so a trade may be necessary at the trade deadline to improve their already impressive ball club.

The Rockies have shown interest in Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla for some time now. Acquiring Uggla would move regular second baseman Clint Barmes to a utility role when Tulowitzki returns from injury (Barmes is currently filling in at shortstop with Jonathan Herrera playing second). The acquisition of Uggla could also leave Mora without a role.

The addition of Uggla would be huge for the Rockies as he is one of the of the best run producing second baseman in the NL, averaging 30HR & 90RBI over the last four seasons. Uggla is having another great year hitting .285 with 16HR & 52RBI in 88 games and is owed $3.52 million for the remainder of the season. Uggla is eligible to make around $10 million in 2011, his final year of arbitration. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that the Rockies discussed trading Clint Barmes and a prospect for Uggla prior to the season, so that deal could possibly be re-visited.

The Rockies have also expressed interest in Baltimore Orioles All-Star infielder Ty Wigginton (.252, 14HR, 45RBI) who is in the second year of a two year deal. He is owed $1.75 million for the remainder of the season and could be a very affordable mid-season acquisition with pop that can play multiple positions around the infield.

Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd told Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post on July 6th that the team does not expect to make any moves until the end of the month, stating that things may change as his team’s needs have been unpredictable.

One thing is apparent for the Rockies, if the combination of Herrera & Barmes struggles or Tulowitzki recovers slowly from injury the team may not have enough production from the middle infield to contend in the horse race known as the NL West.

The acquisition of a middle infielder such as Uggla or Wigginton may be just what they need.

We will all see when the July 31st trade deadline rolls around.