Ronnie Belliard for Hector Luna; Belliard’s 31, solid offensively, mediocre on defense.

So basically, he’s like Hector Luna, only 31 and a free agent next year. And kind of fat.

Some people are going to say this is a good trade because La Russa’s going to play him full-time, a big deal with Aaron Miles hitting .250/.298/.321 since his brilliant April. And it’s true–simply by taking Miles out of the picture this trade adds value.

But the problem is that it’s only a good trade in the context of Tony La Russa’s inability to trust Luna with a full-time job, and that’s not a “win” so much as a recognition of the occasionally-asinine limitations of the manager. Divorced from that, the Cardinals have traded away one of their last bits of financial flexibility–this while coming up on an offseason where they’ll need to scrounge up two starting pitchers and at least one outfielder. In exchange, they’ve picked up two months of a guy no one will mistake for a difference-maker. They’ve almost guaranteed that the 2007 Cardinals will be stepping around the same second base sinkhole that they’ve just fixed.

Looking solely at the rest of this season, the Cardinals have made an incremental improvement. But in their Quixotic chase for consistency and certainty at all costs, they’ve left themselves deeper in the hole Braden Looper and Ricardo Rincon started digging.

With Juan Mateo’s bid to join the 25-man roster looking ever more tenuous, it’s time to take a look at the last Rule 5-er to stick with the Cardinals, Paquette™ Brand IF/OF Hector Luna.

Luna, born in 1982, was signed by the Indians in 1999. He began his career with the Indians’ club in the Dominican Summer League, where he played with Jhonny Peralta and Willy Taveras, among others. There he hit .256/.338/.342, stealing 29 bases and showing good hitting tools, for his age. (For comparison, another 17-year-old SS in the low minors–Donovan Solano–hit .257/.339/.297 for the Cardinals last year.) At a precocious 18, he moved up to the Appalachian League but scuffled to a .204/.306/.244 mark over 200 at-bats.

He must have spent 2001 in extended spring training, because he next appears in the high-A Carolina League, as the Kinston Indians’ 20-year-old starting shortstop. In these new surroundings, which featured a much higher level of competition than he was used to, he thrived, hitting .276/.334/.404 and stealing 30 more bases. The power was new, and he was young for his league. Over the next several years he continued his charge up through the minors, and presently he starts at short for the Indians, he and Peralta having become one of the most dangerous keystone combinations in baseball.

Except–whoops.

A not-very-funny thing happened on his way up the farm system, and one of the many incidental things that happened as a result was a more careful look at birth certificates. As it turned out, Luna was one of 13 Indians–including one-time Memphis Redbirds ace Nerio Rodriguez–to get caught up in Agegate.

Luna, born in 1980, was signed by the Indians in 1999. He began his career with the Indians’ club in the Dominican Summer League, where he played with 17-year-olds Jhonny Peralta and Willy Taveras, among others. There he hit .256/.338/.342, stealing 29 bases but displaying a shaky bat in a league that was too young for him. (For comparison, another 19-year-old SS in the low minors–Jose Martinez–hit .300/.387/.500 for the Cardinals last year.) At 20, still in a short-season league, he collapsed entirely, barely peeking over the top of the Mendoza Line.

He should have spent 2001 getting acclimated with full-season ball, but instead he appears to have spent time in extended Spring Training. Finally, in 2002, he became the starting shortstop of the high-A Kinston Indians. In these new surroundings, he managed to keep himself on the radar by hitting as though he hadn’t lost a year of valuable development time. He was certainly no prospect, at 22, but he did at least hit .276/.334/.404 and steal 31 bases. The power was new, but he wasn’t exactly a spring chicken for his league and it manifest itself a little too heavily in triples. (He managed only 15 doubles and 10 homers, in more than 450 at-bats.) He was left off the 40-man roster.

As a result he was taken by the Devil Rays in the Rule 5 draft, attending Spring Training with them in 2003. He looked fine in his 28 exhibition at-bats–.310/.333/.414–but the Rays sent him packing back to the Indians anyway, having decided they had enough pseudo-prospects in the system as-is. He spent 2003 in AA, hitting a career-high .297 but managing only 2 home runs; despite his big frame, the power had disappeared.

And despite that, he went in the Rule 5 draft, this time to the Cardinals. You know how it went from there; he did just-well-enough in 2004, was a mess in the minors in 2005, and then, once called up, hit a startlingly solid .285/.344/.409. If he were to hit that again, his baserunning would make him a (well) above-average offensive second baseman. His career line, in just over 300 at-bats: .265/.322/.384. A solid return for a Rule 5 pick, but not so intriguing as it would be coming from a guy going into his age-24 season, rather than starting out in it.

What do you guys think about Hector? Is the 2005 batting average for real? Can he become a starting second baseman, despite the later-than-anticipated start to his career? His career numbers, if you’re willing to brave the ads, can be found here… where they still haven’t updated his age.