Oakland Athletics: The Top 50 Oakland A’s of All-Time

#13: Eric Chavez

Eric Chavez is good at everything, except perhaps broadcast television. The exceptional defender racked up six Gold Glove Awards during his career, as well as a Silver Slugger Award. In addition, fans and the media alike adored Chavez – a feat that’s often as hard to accomplish as success on the field.

In 2004, the A’s signed Chavez to a six-year, $66 million contract extension, which seemed like a great deal at first. He hit 27 home runs and continued to be a defensive asset in the field during the 2005 season. But Chavez became inconsistent after that, thanks to both injuries and age. By the time 2010 was over, the Athletics were more than ready to decline his club option and send him into free agency.

Chavez holds the longest tenure of any A’s player in franchise history, in terms of continuous time. Although Rickey Henderson played 14 years in the Green and Gold uniform, he split that time between two stints, whereas Chavez was there for 13 consecutive seasons.

Chavez would go on to play with the Yankees and Diamondbacks before retiring at the end of the 2014 season.

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