BREAKING: Yankees Hire Eric Chavez As Special Assignment Scout

The Yankees have made an off the field hire today. No, they haven’t hired a hitting coach. Jon Heyman reports the Yankees have hired Eric Chavez to be a special assignment scout.

Chavez retired this year after his second season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent his first 13 seasons with the Athletics before coming to the Yankees in 2011. Chavez was in the Bronx for two years hitting .281/16/37 with a .348 OBP in his second season with the Yankees.

Chavez was one of the best third basemen in the game at the turn of the century. From 2000 – 2005 he hit at least 25 home runs in every season and had over 100 RBI in 4 of the 6 seasons. He had a .268/26/90 162 game average for his career. Unfortunately he spent the last 8 seasons of his career almost constantly injured. During that time he only played in 449 of a possible 1296 games.

Chavez will be 37 in December and wanted to stay involved in baseball even after his retirement. While he spent over a decade with the infamous Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics, it was Brian Cashman and Billy Eppler that lured him to the Yankees after his playing days.

The search is still on for the Yankees to find a hitting coach. While Chavez fits the profile well, the job will not be going to him. Chavez is a fantastic student of the game and having him back in the Yankees organization is a very strong move for the team.