"The Rockies' interest in Cody Ross is based on whether they trade Seth Smith, writes ESPN's Buster Olney."

Should the Cardinals attempt to help facilitate this trade? The Rockies are looking for big league ready pitching as they look to contend this year in the NL West.

A three way trade could send Kyle McClellan to COL, Seth Smith to ATL, and Martin Prado to STL

All three players are arbitration eligible, and will each earn a fairly similar salary in 2012, while also being under team control in 2013. Seth Smith will be under team control one additional year though 2014.

Kyle McClellan would slide into the back end of the COL rotation.

Atlanta appears to be interested in Seth Smith since they are going to play Prado in Left Field anyway, but Smith projects to have more power with an exploitable platoon split (playing everyday vs RHP).

Bill James projects a .822 OPS for Smith vs .762 OPS for Prado. If Atlanta is going to play Prado in Left Field why not trade for a better hitting Left Fielder in Seth Smith? Of course Prado could spell Chipper Jones at 3B, but he can't play LF/3B at the same time (he is not Mark DeRosa, who could actually play 3 positions at once)

The Cardinals could use Prado for about 140 games at second base, boosting their offensive production at the position, and still find some playing time for Greene and Descalso off the bench.

Remember our hero David Freese has been prone to injury so there may be some available innings at 3B for Descalso. The injury risks also apply to Furcal who may only be good for about 120 games a year at this stage of his career. Tyler Greene could backup SS and get and occasional start at 2B even with Prado in the fold.

An STL bench of Greene, Descalso, Schumaker, Cruz/Anderson, and one of Jay/Craig/Beltran/Berkman on any given day would be one of the best in the NL and a real strength over a 162 game season.

Is this a reasonable trade for Mo to pursue? Would it boost the Cardinals win total in 2012?