Earlier this week, Oakland signed 3B-L Eric Chavez to a six-year, $66M contract extension that includes a $3M buyout on a $12.5M option for 2011. Chavez's current contract takes him through the 2004 season and will pay him $5.2M this year. Under the new deal, he'll reportedly receive a salary of $8M in 2005, $9M in 2006, $9M in 2007, $11M in 2008, $11M in 2009, and $12M in 2010, as well as a $3M signing bonus, which will be paid out in $500,000 yearly increments from 2004 through 2009.

The deal also includes an eight-team no-trade clause, which covers Cleveland, Florida, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Montreal, the New York Mets, Tampa Bay, and Toronto. Of course, provided the A's don't chose to deal him to one of the clubs not on his list, near the end of 2007 or early in 2008 he should achieve five and ten rights, which would give him full protection against trades.

While Oakland's decision to finally commit monetarily to a high profile player has raised eyebrows, Chavez clearly stands apart from the players previously discarded.

Jason Giambi turned 31 in the winter after his contract with the A's expired. While his production had been admirable for years, 1B-L Giambi was beginning to experience some health problems and at his age he was more likely to begin to decline than to maintain his offensive output. Oakland also felt secure in their ability to find a productive replacement first baseman.

I don't think OF-L Johnny Damon really merits discussion in this context. He performed below his established levels during his season with the Athletics, and he had little history with the club.

Miguel Tejada will not officially turn 28 until May, though the accuracy of his age has been questioned for years. He never quite developed the consistent plate discipline Oakland covets, and the A's possess a stud prospect, SS-R Bobby Crosby, who is ready to step into SS-R Tejada's shoes this season.

As for right-handed pitchers Jason Isringhausen, Billy Koch, and Keith Foulke, the A's recognized that they did not have to pay for well-established closers. Koch's trade value had little room to improve, he was overworked, and in position to collapse. Oakland acquired an undervalued Foulke to replace Koch, improving the quality of their closer. The Athletics made a bid to retain Foulke this off-season, but the team was not willing to break the bank on a 31-year-old reliever, when their own experience indicates that replacements are readily available.

Eric Chavez turned 26 in December, so he is just entering the prime of his career not exiting it. His already impressive offensive contributions could even improve over the next couple of seasons. When you consider that his offense compliments the defensive skills of a Gold Glove third baseman, finding a replacement for his contributions becomes extremely difficult. The Athletics possess a promising third base prospect in the form of 3B-L Mark Teahen, but the earliest I would expect Teahen to be ready for the majors would be September of 2005 when he will already be 24. The combination of his age and near irreplaceability transparently distinguish him from those who did not receive large contracts from Oakland.

Having established the characteristics that won him this contract, I would like to explore his contributions in relation to his salary. Chavez compliments his solid plate discipline with considerable power skills, which should continue to increase as he settles into his adult body. Meanwhile, although Oakland has not explored the full capacity of his baserunning talent, Chavez possesses the skills to effectively steal bases. Ken Macha seems interested in exploiting that facet of his skills more this season.

When facing southpaws, Chavez has not yet learned to exercise the patience he displays against right-handed pitchers, leaving him with a sizeable platoon split. While that weakness is troubling, I believe Chavez is likely to overcome it, since he has been able to grasp the fundamentals of plate discipline when facing righties and merely needs to incorporate that knowledge into his approach to left-handed pitchers. Although he has suffered a variety of minor ailments, I am unaware of any pre-existing health condition that would foretell imminent injury troubles for Chavez.

While players are unlikely to continue to experience substantial yearly improvement past a certain age, salaries in multi-year contracts usually increase without regard for that reality. Consequently, I prefer to treat the increases as deferred money from the more productive seasons of the player's career while analyzing the appropriateness of the average annual salary. A shorter contract might have been more practical, but closing the deal likely required a longer commitment, and Chavez probably traded a higher salary for the extra years. In light of his projected contributions, I believe the contract is sensible.

I always enjoy seeing organizations retain players developed by their farm system. Oakland drafted Eric Cesar Chavez out of high school with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 1996 draft. He made his professional debut at A+ Visalia in the California League in 1997, split most of 1998 between AA Huntsville in the Southern League and AAA Edmonton in the Pacific Coast League, and made his major league debut that September. The 6'1", 200 lb. L.A. native lives now lives near Oakland. I'm not confident another team would have offered him the years guaranteed in this contract, but Chavez almost certainly could have obtained a higher annual salary if he'd chosen to test free agency next year.