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February 28, 2007

Player Profile

Eric Chavez

by Marc Normandin

Eric Chavez has had himself quite the productive career, although it is not quite what most analysts and fans expected. He has won six straight Gold Gloves, and probably deserved most if not all of them, as he was the best American League's best defensive third basemen from 2003-2005 according to John Dewan. His offense has petered out the past two years after an age-26 season that saw improvements to his plate production. Entering his age-29 season, Chavez's PECOTA forecast is a disappointingly low .263/.358/.464 with an Improvement Rate of only 32 percent, and the four years after that aren't very thrilling either. Is this what we can expect from Chavez from here on out, or will there be a return to his pre-2005 form in his future?

Eric Cesar Chavez was a two-time Baseball America High School All-America selection at Mount Carmel High School in San Diego, and was the only junior so honored the first time he earned it. He hit .537 with nine homeruns and 51 steals his junior year, and .458 with 11 homeruns and 33 steals his senior season, which earned him the 10^th overall slot in the 1996 amateur draft. Chavez did not sign with Oakland until August 27 of that year, so his professional debut was held off until 1997, when he played third base for High-A Visalia. Chavez would only spend two seasons in the minors before debuting with the major league club, splitting 1998 between Double-A and Triple-A for the most part:

           AB   AVG/OBP/SLG  SecA  XBH%  ISO  2B+3B  BB%    K%
Vis.(A+)  520 .271/.321/.444 .256  36%  .173   33    6.6%  16.3%
Hun.(AA)  335 .328/.402/.612 .433  45%  .284   28   11.1%  16.2%
Edm.(AAA) 194 .325/.364/.588 .200  46%  .133   18    5.8%  15.5%

Chavez had a fine debut at Visalia considering he was 19 years old and fresh out of high school, especially when you consider his BABIP was only .299, well below the level's average. He was also named the best defensive third basemen in the Cal League by Baseball America following his debut. In 1998 his BABIP was much higher—a bit over the level's average, even—and his stat line was all the more impressive for it. Even if you were to dock him a few points of BABIP to match the averages for Double-A, Chavez still put together something relatively close to .300/.370/.580 as a 20 year old. This success--and high BABIP--carried over to Triple-A Edmonton, although not with the same kind of plate patience on display.

This did not deter the Athletics from calling him up, with Chavez making his major league debut on September 8, 1998. He played in 16 of the A's contests from that point onward, compiling a .311/.354/.444 line in 45 at-bats. Chavez was named Minor League Baseball Player of the Year by Baseball America following the season, and he had earned himself a stay on the major league squad as well.

Chavez would play in 115 games for the A's in 1999, splitting time with Olmedo Saenz and Scott Spiezio at third base, but this gig as a part-time player wasn't going to last long, with Chavez earning 569 plate appearances the next year, and blossoming as an offensive player: