Eric Chavez (USATSI)
Eric Chavez has been able to bring his career back from the dead. (USATSI)

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Once upon a time, Eric Chavez was one of the best young players in baseball. He won six Gold Gloves and received MVP votes in four different seasons while with the Athletics early in his career. But injuries sabotaged what had been a chance to have a borderline Hall of Fame-caliber career.

Back, shoulder, elbow and neck injuries derailed Chavez's career starting with his age-29 season in 2007, limiting him to 212 total games from 2007-11. The six-year, $66 million extension Oakland gave him prior to the 2005 season -- still the largest contract in franchise history -- expired following the 2010 season, and his career with the A's was over.

The Yankees gave Chavez an invitation to spring training in 2011, and he wound up making the team as a bench player. He hit .263/.320/.356 in 58 games as a backup third baseman, first baseman and DH while missing close to three months with a fractured foot. Injury prone and no longer the hitter he was a few years ago, it appeared as though his career was coming to a close.

Chavez mulled retirement before returning to the Yankees, again filling a bench role. Rather than get hurt and provide little impact at the plate, he had his best season since 2004. Chavez hit .281/.348/.496 (127 OPS+) with 16 homers in 113 games for New York in 2012, 11 more homers than he hit from 2008-11 in nine fewer games.

The big rebound year landed Chavez a job with the Diamondbacks this offseason, and that excellent production has continued. The now-35-year-old entered Saturday hitting .279/.343/.525 (131 OPS+) with four homers in 21 games. Chavez is hitting .300/.364/.675 since Aaron Hill's mid-April injury forced him to play more third base (Martin Prado moved over to second).

Eric Chavez's Career Progression
Years Team Games AVG/OBP/SLG WAR
1998-2006 Athletics 1,166 .271/.350/.489 33.2
2007-11 A's, Yankees 212 .239/.296/.390 0.1
2012 Yankees 113 .281/.348/.496 1.7
2013 Diamondbacks 21 .279/.343/.525 0.3

Since the start of last season, Chavez is hitting .280/.347/.501 with 20 homers in 134 games and 381 plate appearances while avoiding the DL, which is right in line with the numbers he put up during his heyday. It's not just a function of playing in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium and Chase Field either -- he's hit .287/.350/.482 with nine homers at home and .274/.345/.520 with 11 homers on the road since 2012.

The production is nice, but all the injuries have added up and prevent Chavez from playing on an everyday basis. He can't play more than three or four consecutive days in the field, and as Dan Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal chronicled last June, he has a rigorious daily routine just to get his body ready for a game. That routine includes never sitting still on the bench because his back locks up.

After spending his prime years as an injury-riddled and unproductive player, Chavez has bounced back to become a very good complementary piece. He can't hit lefties (.154/.222/.154 over the last two years) or play regularly, but he's an impact player in moderation. Considering how hard and fast his career crashed a few years ago, Chavez deserves a lot of credit for all the hard work he put in at the time when many would have hung up the spikes.