Title contention a realistic Rockies goal for 2017

The National League West has become the playground for the Dodgers and Giants.

The two teams have combined to make the postseason seven times the last five seasons.

The Dodgers will go into 2017 having won four consecutive division titles, and the Giants have been a Wild Card invitee to the postseason two of the last three years and won the NL West in 2012.

And along come the Rockies, who have suffered through six consecutive losing seasons, losing an average of 92 games a season over that stretch and finishing an average 23 games out of first.

Things, however, could be about to change.

The Rockies are approaching the offseason focused on winning in 2017, and with reason.

There’s no fire sale. Yes, Carlos Gonzalez will be a free agent a year from now, and the Rockies do have some outfield depth, but they are not looking to get rid of Gonzalez. He, after all, has the type of ability to help a contending team win.

And that’s what the Rockies feel they are — a contending team, not a team looking to land a package of prospects in exchange for one of the more talented outfielders in the game.

Just the opposite.

The Rockies this winter are looking for the missing pieces to their puzzle that will allow them to make a run at the first division title in the history of the franchise that was created out of expansion in 1993.

That’s why when it came time to hire a manager, they opted to go with the experience of a Bud Black rather than provide an opportunity to a first-time manager.

And that’s why there are growing indications that the Rockies are quite serious in their pursuit of Mark Melancon, who not only …

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