Chavez for a durable SP, then Harden for a 3b replacement. Some kind of three way deal.

Imagine how shocking this diary would have been in say .... even just 2005?  Now, the subject can be easily broached.

The short version:

Chavez doesn't leave until 2007 is over. Assuming he rebounds in the 2nd half he'd be the 2nd best 3B on the market behind A-Rod. The following teams are most likely to be shopping for a 3B:

Yankees
Red Sox
Phillies
Angels
Pirates
Padres
Giants

The Rangers, White Sox and Dodgers all could be added to this list.

One of these teams will sign A-Rod, the rest will be very hungry. Its too soon to pull together package ideas.

Long version.

The natural fit for Chavez would be to the Dodgers. They have the money, the need for both power and defense from the hot corner and the prospects to get a deal done.

Throw into the equation that Billy has already consummated a fairly even-handed trade with Ned Colleti  (Bradley-for-Ethier) and that Chavez has extensive personal connections to Southern California (mitigating the chance that he might protest or attempt to block a trade) and you have the most logical destination.

I'd imagine that we'd get Andy Laroche and some combination of Double-A pitchers for Chavvy, which is fine by me. Laroche can immediately step up and provide at least the same OBP skills as Chavez without the dramatic platoon splits...plus, he bats right-handed and would add a nice balance to our current crop of lefty-heavy prospects.

Problem is: hot corner defense would be downgraded.

if we're focused on subtracting salary, unless Chavvy bounces back a couples of years, we won't get much of anything in return.

Well, call that problem A.

Problem B is that we don't have enough young talent to rebuild on the fly and Chavez isn't going to bring a Makr Mulder type package in return.

Problem C is that while we might be disappointed in Chavvy and this may not be true going forward, despite his health problems, he has been more than worth his salary. We're unlikely to spend that money nearly as well on the market (because mid dollar FAs have a strong tendency to be disappointments)

Despite these problems, it still might be a good idea. If Chavvy is, in fact, in his descent phase and it's just going to keep getting worse, it would be a good idea to get while the getting's good ...

But as a positive move, not a defensive move, I don't see a lot of potential out of this.

Let's assume he's hit his lowest point, and will bounce back in the 2nd half, and indeed even next season.

Even if that happens, and as we've seen, it's no definite thing, he only becomes league average.

Right now he's hitting for Scutaro stats, and we're well beyond the "weather is cold, still getting loose" phase. Last season he hit for Scutaro stats for the majority of the year.

So what that means is, if he stays in the form of the last two seasons, we're paying a big chunk of salary for nothing more than hot corner defense.

And if he gets better, we're paying that big chunk of salary for hot corner defense, the occasional poke out of the yard, and a .250-.265 average.

I just don't see the upside, quite frankly, and emotional attachment aside, if we look at it strictly as numbers on a page, Chavez must go.

In fact, he should have gone a year ago.

but my speculation thinks that your speculation overstates Chavez's trade value.  You say, "His perceived value still remains high throughout baseball". I'm not sure what you mean by "perceived value". Are you suggesting that other GMs haven't figured out what we've figured out?  If "throughout baseball" means the world of fans and broadcasters, then sure, a lot of people haven't yet caught up about Chavez's decline, but I don't think that includes any GMs.

I'm not saying Chavez is worthless. In spite of his decline, I think on the whole he's still probably a better than average starting 3B. But he's also very highly paid, and the value of his contract is a function of both his value as a player and his price tag in payroll.  It's true that some teams care less about payroll than we do, but it's not completely irrelevant to anyone.

In that respect, I think Chavez's contract isn't particularly attractive. If we do get decent players for Chavez, I think they'd have to be well-paid veterans, as in the Kendall or Kotsay trades. I don't see us getting good prospects for Chavez at all.

This idea has been floating around a lot lately -- that Chavez's forearm problems might be related to playing too much video games.  Can we seriously explore this?

I don't recall seeing this suggestion made anywhere but here on AN. Solotar has mentioned it a few times, once attributing it to "my source in the clubhouse". Several others have alluded to it on AN, but as far as I can tell they're only repeating what they've seen mentioned here.

Now I admit I'm skeptical of a second-hand rumor like this, particularly given that Solotar seems predisposed to find fault with Chavez. But part of skepticism is wanting to find the truth. If being a video game junkie really is hurting Chavvy's game, that's something I'd really like to know.

I assume Solotar is not at liberty to name his source, or he would have done so by now. I respect that, but at the same time if anonymous hearsay is the only source for this story, then the rest of us should keep that in mind before we spread the rumor.

Does anyone know of any other evidence of Chavvy's alleged video game habit besides Solotar's unnamed source? Is it something we can inquire about? If Chavvy really is playing video games constantly it can't be a secret. Does anyone else know anyone in the clubhouse who might have seen? Can we ask Slusser? Urban? Geren? Heck, has anyone asked Chavez himself?

There are times to trade a player and times not to. The old maxim "sell high, buy low" is truer in today's baseball world than ever before. Eric Chavez, while having value, is at an extremely low point in his career. It is not the time to trade him. Rest him, repair him, yes; trade him, uh, no.

Is that Chavvy will reach 10-and-5 status next year after the trade deadline.
Meaning, he'll have played at least 10 years and 5 of those years with the same team, at which point he can veto a trade anywhere, not just the 8 teams on his limited NTC.
Which is why, if he is to be traded, the time to make it happen is now if we fall out of the race, or in the offseason.
Worst case scenario is, he breaks down and can't be moved anywhere. I'd rather get something out of him before that happens.
But I certainly think the days of him being a .900 OPS player are done. If another team still fantasizes about that happening, by all means, pull the trigger.

The problem is, other teams don't value defense as much as we do, and so they wouldn't appreciate Chavvy's contribution there in trade talks.

1. Video games.

The only time I've gotten sore forearms playing video games is when I would lie on the floor and prop myself up on my elbows, and there was a time in my life I was playing more video games than any major league baseball player has time for. Sore thumbs? Sure. Forearms? No. Try this experiment at home. Sit in a chair, hold a video game controller and put your thumbs on the controls. You might hold the controller up at first, but eventually it will drop, and your arms will be resting on your thighs. The occasional lift and tug is done at the wrist, and incurs significantly less stress than I am placing on my wrists right now typing on my computer.

2. Trade value.

There are five things that make up a player's value in a trade. One is necessity (i.e. how bad a given team needs a 3rd baseman). We'll go ahead and ignore that, since it requires 29 separate analyses, many of which would go along the lines of "Mediocre hitter, decent defense, costs $10M less than Chavez" The others are performance, ability, age and money. Chavez has great natural ability, both in the field and at the plate. But the performance, at least at the plate, hasn't been there. Chavez will be 30 next year, and while that's not old, it doesn't suggest there's a vast improvement on the horizon. He's also due to make about $37M over the next three years, making him one of the more expensive 3Bs in the game. If the necessity's there, a good deal is possible, but I really do not think Chavez would bring a lot in a trade right now.

that a "core" guy is signed long term?  Had it been Giambi, Tejada, Hudson or Zito would we have been any happier?

None of these guys is a Hall of Famer.  They're all going to have mediocre years.  Heck even HOF guys like Cal Ripken have mediocre years interspersed with their great ones.

I like Chavvy and am glad he's a A.