Belliard to the Cards, Luna returns
The wheeling and dealing for the Indians continued Sunday as the trading deadline approaches. GM Mark Shapiro sent free agent-to-be Ronnie Belliard to St. Louis for 26-year-old infielder Hector Luna.
The Cardinals needed a second-base solution for the stretch run, and the Indians needed middle-infield depth for the long haul.
Luna, if you remember, was originally drafted by the Indians back in 1999 and was lost twice because of the Rule V draft.
General manager Mark Shapiro had said Belliard was an option for his club at second base next season. But the 31-year-old Belliard is likely to command a multiyear deal in free agency, and the Indians aren’t expected to want to go that route with him.
The 26-year-old Luna, known for a solid bat but inconsistent glove, will join the Indians in Boston on Monday. With the Cards this season, he’s hit .291 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 75 games.
Belliard’s future with Cleveland was iffy since his contract was up at the end of the season. Ronnie has done some great things for this team over the past couple of years and has showed tremendous attitude and toughness. He would have been a quality asset to keep around another year or so because of what he brings to the team. Belliard displayed a consistent bat and solid defense. The trade saves the Indians money and they get younger in the process by acquiring Luna.
Luna doesn’t exactly blow me away. If he really is “inconsistent” with the glove, that’ll make our defense even worse. Our infield now has to be the worst in all of baseball and I don’t completely agree with the trade. It would have been nice to bring Belliard back but clearly the move was about the money for the Tribe.
this is an absolutely ridiculous trade.
in no way does this make the team better now, or next year. and i can guarantee that we will not sign anyone of significance in the off season toi play second.
this is about being cheap.
Belliard definantly needed to go. We have inglett who looks good enough to play second base on an every day basis. There was no way ronnie belliard was in the future of our cleveland indians, the fact that they signed him to a one year deal last year should be evidence enough. I dont know how you could disagree with this trade. At least we got something in return compared to nothing when he would go somewhere else in the offseason. Next up; Boone and Hollandsworth.
i believe inglett is better than belliard when he proves it after a full season next year. i don’t see it.
belliard was just slightly above average compared with all other second baseman i think. but on this team HE IS THE ONLY SOLID INFIELDER WE HAVE (had).
and, had we kept belliard the remainder of the year and then he signs with another team in the off-season, i’m pretty sure we would have picked up an extra draft pick for that. anyone know?
either way, if you think this team is headed for any kind of significant improvement next year, you’re just fooling to yourself.
feel free to tell me how wrong and idiotic i am next time the tribe makes the playoffs.
p.s. – does anyone actually think we’ll get anything for boone? if so, why and what?
one last thing – i didn’t think belliard was off the trading block, i think only hafner and sizemore are the 2 untouchables. i think i am mostly dissappointed in what we received in return.
i do think the broussard trade was a great move. but the wickman trade and now the belliard trade are very weak. and it seems that the only people defending these trades are the same people who thought this team was going to win the division this year.
For Broussard and Perez, two utility players, we got two of the Mariners top 7 prospects…a pretty good steal if you ask me. As for the Wickman trade, Shapiro is extremely high on this Ramirez kid and he’s only in Class A so we can’t judge him for at least a few more years. Remember, a lot of trades for prospects take much longer to pan out so I wouldn’t hit the panic button just yet. Hell, look at what Shapiro did getting Lee, Sizemore, and Hafner and they are three of our cornerstone players now. With what he has had to work with, Shapiro has done an exceptional job thus far as GM.
Boone – I’m sure Shapiro has been on the phone trying as desperately as he can to get rid of Boone. Who will take him off our hands? Who the hell knows, I sure wouldn’t. If he can get ANYTHING for him, by all means make the deal. I’m just glad Marte is up in Cleveland. If they can’t get a deal done for Boone, I say just let him sit on the bench and try to be a veteran role model of sorts for Marte then cut him after the season.
Belliard – As far as draft compesation goes, it is dependent upon whether the signed free agent is Class A, B, or C…with Class A being the top tier, obviously. Let’s say, for instance, the Indians kept Ronnie for the rest of the season and let him go as a free agent. Belliard would most likely qualify as a Class A free agent so then these rules apply: If the team that signed him finished in the top 15 in baseball (by record), the Indians would receive that team’s first-round pick. If the team finished in the bottom 15, the Tribe would get its second rounder (like what happened with Howry being picked up by the Cubs). In either case, the Indians would get a sandwich pick between the first and second round as well. Sounds confusing but i guess it doesn’t really matter now that he’s history.
I have no idea whether Luna is a good pickup for the Tribe, but they had to dump Belliard. Inglett deserves a legitimate shot to win the job at 2B, and they also save money with the deal. I hate that the Dolans are so concerned about money, but that’s the owner we’re stuck with. Every couple of million saved this year might give Shapiro some additional flexibility for next year.
This season has been a disaster, but Shapiro has to make the best of it by picking up some young players and then giving them playing time at the major league level.
also a lot of these trades are to dump salary, I just hope they put the money back into the team for next year!!
Joe and G. are right. Belliard was NOT part of the long-term. He was gone after this yr, so why not get SOMETHING for him?
i am so sick of this team trading and making moves for the “future”. I look at the all stars over the past few years and i see, manny ramirez, i see jim thome, sexton was one not long ago , brian giles comes to mind, this is a freakin joke. if you are not going to spend the money for the present, sale the freakin team “art” dolan!! all i see is constant dumping and “re-building”, when will this team be “built”??
I’ll go on record now for the upcoming off season, and you can accept it or not:
1) there are way more teams willing to pay way more than us for any decent talent that will be available.
2) expect more ‘trevor hoffman’ situations. where the tribe actually does offer more than another team and the player declines.
i am 100% positive we will see both of these situations come to light in the upcoming off season.
I agree Kessler, teams will come over the top of us for a player cause they know Dolan is too cheap to match it!! We’ll probably be the pawn players use us to drive up offers from other clubs!!
Luna for Belliard – are you kidding me?!? Luna made a terrible play in his first start for the Tribe last night -an easy grounder off his glove that lead to two runs. Wow.