Third Base
2008 Jack Hannahan 501 PAs .218 .305 .342
2008 Eric Chavez 95 Pas .247 .295 .393
Chavez will be the starter and if he puts up his career average numbers it would be a huge upgrade from the "production" they got last season. Can the A's expect him to hit as good as his career averages? He's hit .269/.346/.484 for his career, but he hasn't slugged over .466 since his career year in 2004. Furthermore, how much can the A's count on Chavez to play? He played in just 23 games last year and 90 games in 2007. If he misses time, the A's still have Hannahan, whose performance last year is probably indicative of his value, and Joe Dillon who would be better offensively, but I doubt he could handle significant playing time at third base. The A's could also look at Cliff Pennington, Yung Chi Chen, or Jeff Baisley at third, but counting on them for anything would be big trouble. As of now, the A's are betting on a return to health for Chavez, and a return to his career numbers and do not have a good insurance policy. This is not the type of situation a contending team should be in.
