Chavez is one year younger *if* you assume that Tejada'a listed age is real. My guess: it isn't.

tim

It makes sense long term, I think. But if they chose Tejada, they could have had one more year of both of them, and maybe make a run with a much better lineup.

Plus, they had Bobby Crosby ready to step in at shortstop.

Also, odd as it sounds, it looks like it's an awful lot easier to find a good shortstop than a good third baseman these days. There's Chavez and Rolen... and who else, really? A bunch of okay and/or aging guys.

Of course, one might consider lefty-righty splits and Tejada's ability to produce no matter who is pitching an advantage to the former shortstop. Chavez's ongoing problems with lefties add to the debate as to who Oakland should've kept, but signing him to this kind of deal may have been essential to reputation and the long-term health of the franchise.

Well, they both show roughly the expected splits for a batter of their handedness. Lefties have more trouble with lefties, for a variety of theorized reasons that I don't care to get into.

The long and short of it is that Tejada is a lot easier for them to replace than Chavez. If they had a guy in the minors who they thought could step in at third base, they wouldn't have signed Chavez for big money. The reputation and long-term health of the franchise would've been fine, just like after Giambi left, and just like after Tejada left.

David,

Could you please link to my site?

Now, will the A's pony up the dough over the next 3 years to keep their pitching studs? I think 2 out of 3 is probably the best that I would hope for. I think which 2 depends on how Mulder holds up and performs this year. Zito too. I think Huddy is a lock unless something goes terribly awry.

Bud Selig said that the A's will never be able to afford to keep their best players without a new stadium. Therefore, Chavez isn't one of the A's best players, in which case they're overpaying him.

I'm not sure what the A's farm system has coming up but I venture to guess that it had more to do with Bobby Crosby being able to step in and no 3rd baseman readily available. It also seemed from Billy Beane's comments that he always seemed to have more of a liking to Chavez over Tejada and his "swing at anything" ways.