San Diego Padres rumors: 3 trade deadline deals to make, 2 to avoid

3) The San Diego Padres should trade for Rockies' catcher Elias Diaz

As our Renee Dechert wrote earlier this month, trading for Elias Diaz of the Colorado Rockies would also make a great deal of sense for the San Diego Padres.

Diaz has one of baseball's most productive hitters, let alone just the fact that he's way above average for a catcher. And we know how much the Padres need to upgrade at this key position.

The veteran Diaz has a .797 OPS this season, while incumbent Austin Nola has a .465 OPS. Fellow incumbent Gary Sanchez has been on a tear since San Diego signed him, though he's cooled down significantly and probably won't be as hot as he was when he first arrived. He's got pop, but so does Diaz and the latter is simply a better all-around threat too. There's a reason Sanchez has bounced around so much recently and been out of baseball for long stretches.

Trading in-division with the Rockies wouldn't be cost-effective, but netting Diaz would provide a solution at catcher for next season as well given his team control.