Chavez embraces role; Yanks embrace Chavez

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Yankees made signing after signing during the offseason of what could be called the 2002 All-Star team. Andruw Jones. Mark Prior. Bartolo Colon. Freddy Garcia.

One more blast from another team's past was the little-noticed signing of former Oakland A's third baseman Eric Chavez to a minor-league deal Feb. 10.

By his own admission, Chavez's career has been "derailed" by injuries to his back and both shoulders. He had five surgeries from 2007-10, a period during which he appeared in 154 games and ate up a large chunk of the A's payroll as Oakland waited for his six-year, $66-million contract to run out.

The six-time Gold Glove winner signed with the Yankees to back up Alex Rodriguez at third and Mark Teixeira at first. He is a non-roster player, but unless his health problems crop up before March 31, he will be running out to the first-base line during Opening Day introductions at Yankee Stadium -- and then taking a seat in the dugout.

"Whatever my role is, it's going to be limited," said Chavez, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI double Sunday in the Yankees' 8-1 win over the Phillies and is batting .371.

"I came here with the thought that I was going to make the team. I don't think anybody ever goes into a situation thinking the negative side of things. I've always felt pretty optimistic, and as long as my body was going to hold up, that I had a pretty good chance. And it's held up."

How long will it continue to hold up? There's no way Chavez, 33, can know. He said he turned down teams that offered him more playing time because "I just didn't think I was going to hold up physically."

He added, "To me, it's just a fact. Could I have gone into a situation and crossed my fingers and hoped I could have succeeded at that? I'd rather come here and know it's more realistic to accomplish this job than another one."

Chavez has impressed Joe Girardi with the lightning in his bat and his continued excellence at third base. He has handled first well enough to be considered an option there when Teixeira needs a day off.

"I really haven't thought much about his health," Girardi said. "I think there's some upside there, I do. You watch him swing the bat. We know that he can play defense. He's an interesting guy to have, for sure."

In his prime, from 2000-06, Chavez averaged 24 home runs and 94 RBIs.

"When I first came up, you want to talk about an all-around player," former A's teammate Nick Swisher said. "Oh, my gosh."

Chavez's two back surgeries have gotten more attention, but he said it's the three shoulder surgeries -- two right, one left -- that have set him back the most.

"Everybody thinks my back has been the No. 1 factor to my career being derailed," he said. "In fact, it's been my [right] shoulder. I couldn't practice in the batting cage because it hurt so bad."

Chavez has shortened his swing in an attempt to take pressure off his shoulder. So far, so good.

"He knows that he doesn't have to come in here with the weight of the world on his shoulders," Swisher said. "I know he's going to be huge for us. With him and Andruw, we're going to have stupid thunder coming off the bench. Ridiculous thunder."