Eric Chavez announces retirement from MLB

Former Oakland Athletics star third baseman Eric Chavez announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Wednesday.

Chavez, 36, spent 17 seasons in the Majors, making his debut with the Oakland A’s on September 8, 1998 and played in 16 games that season, batting .311 with six RBI.  He hit .268/.342/.475 in his career with 260 home runs and 902 RBI with the A’s, the Yankees and the Diamondbacks.

Chavez is best known for solid years with the A’s from 2000-2006 hitting a career high .288 with 32 home runs and 114 RBI during the 2001 campaign.  Overall, he hit .273 with 199 home runs in 13 years in Oakland.  He was the only player from the Moneyball A’s of the early-2000’s to sign a multi-year deal with Oakland.  Chavez has been battling injuries since the 2007 season and only played in over 100 games one time in his last seven years (2012 with New York).

He announced his retirement (which is effective immediately) after the Diamondbacks finished up their series with a 5-4 win over Cincinnati in Wednesday’s matinee.  According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, Chavez is giving up over $1 million dollars by retiring now rather than the end of the year.

Chavez was a six-time Gold Glove winner at third base (all of which with Oakland) and won a Silver Slugger in 2002.  He was also considered one of the best defensive third basemen in the game and was a key part of the 2002 A’s team that won an MLB-record 20 games in a row.  He hit .329 with six home runs and 28 RBI during that stretch.

“He had an amazing career,” A’s general manager Billy Beane, who is very close to Chavez, said.  “Quite frankly, had injuries not hit at the wrong time, he was on his way to a Hall of Fame career.”

“I’m very lucky,” Chavez said.  “I just enjoyed competing and being on the field.  There’s nothing like winning at the major-league level.”

“It’s been a fun ride.”