FanHouse DavidForst

In the 2007 season Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez was limited to only 90 games thanks to a bad back and a bad shoulder. As a result, he spent the winter rehabbing from not one, not two, but three separate surgical procedures done on his back and both shoulders. Well, the good news is, neither his back or left shoulder have been a problem for Eric since he returned from the disabled list at the end of May.

The bad news for Eric is that more problems with his right shoulder this season have limited him to only 23 games, and that total isn't going to get any higher as Chavez has decided to have another procedure done on his shoulder that will end his season.

Assistant general manager David Forst said Chavez elected to have surgery now, rather than after the season, to increase his chances of being healthy in time for spring training.

"He's been dealing with this shoulder problem for a long time," Forst said. "Going in to repair the problem is his best chance now to open up next year feeling 100 percent."

Ah yes, so that way when he comes back healthy next season and hits .290 with 23 homers and 70 RBI before the All-Star break, he can then be traded for prospects. Hell, maybe Eric is faking the whole thing just because he really likes living in Oakland (it happens) and knows being on the disabled list is the only way he can keep from getting traded.

Oakland Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis is slated to become a free agent after this season since he's in the final year of a three-year deal he signed with Oakland back in 2006. He's never been the type of player to carry a team or anything, but generally, he's the type of player any GM would have as their second baseman.

I mean, he's no Chase Utley or anything, but he gives you solid offensive production and has one of the best gloves of any second sacker in the game today. Odds are that if he were to hit the market this off-season, he could pull in anywhere from $6-$10 million a season from a team that sees him as a nice alternative to Orlando Hudson (who should be the most sought after free agent second baseman this winter).

Unfortunately for anybody who was hoping to sign him, it doesn't look like he's going to be available.

Ellis is in the final year of a three-year contract, and he isn't all that interested in leaving Oakland, so he's encouraged that his agent, Jamie Murphy, recently started talking with A's assistant general manager David Forst about an extension.

"It's only been a couple of conversations, so we'll see where it goes from there," Ellis told MLB.com on Wednesday before the second game of a three-game Interleague series against the visiting Phillies at McAfee Coliseum. "But it's nice we're talking."

The Athletics are just as interested in keeping Ellis around as well, because even though they just drafted second baseman Jemile Weeks in the first round of the draft, the team could move him to the outfield. After Weeks, the A's don't have any other real prospects at second, so keeping Ellis would be ideal.