The Eric Chavez saga tells us a lot about the Oakland A's, and none of it is good.

Billy Beane decided, a few years ago, to build this team around Chavez.  That's why he, and not Tejada or any of the pitchers, got a long-term contract.  The team invested more in Chavez than in any other player.  And they've totally botched that investment, or allowed him to do so.  That's rank incompetence.

We now know that Chavez won't ever be a third baseman again.  He has an injury that's degenerated to the point that it can't really be fixed.  A baseball player who can't throw without pain and whose injury makes it impossible for him to hit is one thing: a designated hitter.  And from Chavez's own comments, that option seems questionable as well.

How was this allowed to happen?  As I mentioned in a comment last night, there are plenty of elite athletes whose careers are cut short due to injury.  One is tempted to put Chavez in that category, except for the nagging feeling I have that this particular injury could have been prevented or not allowed to destroy his career.

After all, it's not exactly new for Chavez to complain about his throwing shoulder.  A few years back, Chavez said he could barely throw the ball across the diamond.  That wasn't just talk.  His throws consistently bounced in the dirt.  Chavez's fielding wizardry made up for it, in terms of performance, but wasn't that a huge warning sign for the team and Chavez?

Remember, this isn't some borderline guy on a year-to-year contract.  This is a player in whom they have invested a great deal of money, especially by this team's standards, and counting on for years to come.

But Chavez said he didn't want to have surgery, didn't think it would help, wanted to play when he could, et cetera.  Did Chavez refuse to have surgery that would have prevented his shoulder from degenerating to the point where it can't really be fixed?  What did the A's medical staff and outside doctors recommend?  The player complained of extreme discomfort, and anyone with eyes knew it was affecting his performance.  Did the medical folks really just tell him he should do nothing?  And at what point does Billy Beane, the guy who signed him to the big-money deal so he could be a cornerstone for the team, get involved?

The A's and Chavez seem to have used hope as a plan.  But it must have been clear, after he finally had surgery, that Chavez's shoulder woes were far more serious.  Chavez is saying the shoulder is "shredded," and that it's so bad that there is nothing that can be done.

Beane knew that last fall.  He knew that his third baseman was almost certainly not coming back, not just for part of 2008, but ever.  What has he done about it?  In all of the trades he has made to rebuild the team, has he acquired a third baseman who can help now or in the future?  No. 

There was some discussion on last night's thread about the team's obligation to disclose the severity of a player's injury.  Full disclosure makes sense if you're trying to trade a player.  You can't, or shouldn't, be hiding damaged goods.  But full disclosure is not necessary if you're hiding the vulnerabilities of your own player.  Beane could have used the opportunity to add third base prospects.  I realize prospects can be traded for other prospects, but now everyone knows of the A's crying need for a third baseman.  They didn't know before.  They do now, and that will make a trade more difficult.

Chavez, even as a DH, cannot be counted upon.  How effective would he be?  Will the shoulder make it impossible to hit for any sort of consistent power, or play at all?  The A's, at this stage, can't pencil him in as a designated hitter - not this year, not next year, not ever.  He's Rich Harden, but without the superstar potential and with a bigger contract.

For all of the agitation about the team's recent swoon, I can't be too upset over the 2008 performance.  This is actually a little better than I expected, although the recent trend is ominous.  But I was hoping that Chavez would be able to work his way back into game shape and recapture some of the form of his early career so he could be ready to go in 2009.  If other things went well, perhaps the A's could contend next season.

I don't think that is a realistic goal now.  A Duchscherer trade still doesn't appeal to me, but I can see it now.  The team is at least two years away from serious contention.

But I don't think the A's should be left off the hook on the Chavez fiasco.  This was an organizational failure and a huge waste of money.

Edited to add:  Will Carroll's 2004 piece in Slate (link is in the comments) makes a good case for why Chavez and the A's might have been reluctant to pursue to surgical route.  [The piece doesn't mention Chavez in particular, but it seems to fit the situation, even if Carroll's article is mostly about pitchers.]  This dovetails with the biggest criticism of my FanPost, that I am making a bunch of hindsight-influenced assumptions without knowledge of what medical diagnosis and advice was given to Chavez and the team.

But let's assume that my critics are right, that surgery probably wouldn't have helped, and that Chavez and the A's suspected as much all along.  That doesn't negate my second point, that the A's failed to take action to fill what was likely to be a gaping hole in the lineup and on the field.  In fact, if the A's knew that Chavez's comeback was questionable at best, it strengthens my argument that the team needed to acquire a replacement.  The A's failed to do that, despite trading away a lot of Major League talent over the past year.