More On Chavez And Furmaniak

Here is some background on the two players the Rays signed today, Angel Chavez and J.J. Furmaniak.

Chavez was born July 22, 1981 in David, Panama. On October 30, 1998, he was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur, non-drafted free agent. He reached the majors with the Giants in 2005. His 19 at bats that year are his only major league experience.

On April 5, 2006, he was selected off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies. From there he played in the minors for several organizations, including the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and last season with the Boston Red Sox.

Here are his minor league batting stats:

Year	Age	Lev	Aff	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2000	18	Rk	SFG	29	2	8	0	1	1	7	1	1	1	5	.276	.300	.448	.748
2001	19	A	SFG	37	5	7	2	0	2	3	1	0	1	12	.189	.231	.405	.636
2001	19	A+	SFG	316	37	77	22	2	3	28	10	4	16	60	.244	.280	.354	.634
2002	20	A+	SFG	471	61	121	20	5	8	62	21	7	28	83	.257	.303	.372	.674
2003	21	A+	SFG	478	69	134	23	6	10	58	20	11	22	60	.280	.314	.416	.730
2004	22	Rk	SFG	16	2	6	0	0	1	5	2	0	1	3	.375	.389	.563	.951
2004	22	A+	SFG	54	12	21	5	0	1	16	2	2	4	7	.389	.433	.537	.970
2004	22	AA	SFG	308	22	61	8	2	0	21	6	4	24	53	.198	.261	.237	.498
2005	23	A+	SFG	120	22	34	2	1	5	19	4	0	5	21	.283	.310	.442	.751
2005	23	AAA	SFG	334	46	94	17	3	11	64	5	1	17	59	.281	.320	.449	.769
2006	24	AA	PHI	239	35	61	9	1	5	32	6	3	16	46	.255	.300	.364	.664
2006	24	AA	BAL	15	0	4	2	0	0	1	3	0	1	3	.267	.294	.400	.694
2006	24	AAA	PHI	210	27	58	22	1	6	28	6	0	13	41	.276	.317	.476	.793
2007	25	AAA	NYY	430	62	125	26	1	11	66	6	3	27	80	.291	.336	.433	.769
2008	26	AAA	LAD	463	68	135	31	0	10	68	5	3	27	54	.292	.335	.423	.758
2009	27	AAA	BOS	442	41	112	23	0	4	39	3	2	18	48	.253	.282	.333	.615
10 Seasons				3962	511	1058	212	23	78	517	101	41	221	635	.267	.308	.391	.699
AAA (5 seasons)				1879	244	524	119	5	42	265	25	9	102	282	.279	.318	.415	.733
A+ (5 seasons)				1439	201	387	72	14	27	183	57	24	75	231	.269	.307	.395	.702
AA (2 seasons)				562	57	126	19	3	5	54	15	7	41	102	.224	.279	.295	.574
Rk (2 seasons)				45	4	14	0	1	2	12	3	1	2	8	.311	.333	.489	.822
A (1 season)				37	5	7	2	0	2	3	1	0	1	12	.189	.231	.405	.636

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 2/12/2010.

And here are his overall minor league fielding stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff		G	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/G
10 Seasons							1071	4106	1424	2518	164	456	.960	3.68
SS (10 seasons)						SS	544	2422	886	1450	86	328	.964	4.29
3B (8 seasons)						3B	437	1274	336	866	72	80	.943	2.75
2B (5 seasons)						2B	77	330	127	198	5	40	.985	4.22
1B (4 seasons)						1B	13	80	75	4	1	8	.988	6.08

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 2/12/2010.

Furmaniak was born July 31, 1979, in Naperville, IL, and drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 22nd round of the 2000 draft. From the Padres he played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, the Oakland A's, the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Japan Central League in 2008, and for the Philadelphia Phillies at AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs in 2009. There is a blog devoted to him too. He reached the majors twice, for the Pirates in 2005 for 26 AB's, and for the A's in 2007 for 17 AB's.

Here are his minor league batting stats:

Year	Age	Lev	Aff	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2000	20	Rk	SDP	245	72	84	18	2	5	38	10	3	44	48	.343	.446	.494	.940
2001	21	A	SDP	436	57	96	24	3	5	35	11	6	55	117	.220	.309	.323	.632
2002	22	A+	SDP	381	50	98	16	6	7	43	11	9	26	100	.257	.311	.386	.697
2003	23	A+	SDP	309	65	97	22	8	9	54	10	4	36	55	.314	.397	.524	.921
2003	23	AA	SDP	103	10	27	4	1	3	11	0	0	8	27	.262	.336	.408	.744
2004	24	AA	SDP	51	10	10	4	0	1	8	1	0	7	15	.196	.305	.333	.638
2004	24	AAA	SDP	425	71	125	24	4	17	73	8	5	33	86	.294	.348	.489	.838
2005	25	AAA	SDP	387	54	103	16	4	14	47	9	5	28	86	.266	.324	.437	.761
2005	25	AAA	PIT	139	12	40	5	3	2	21	5	3	4	32	.288	.315	.410	.725
2006	26	AAA	PIT	371	43	79	12	3	6	27	15	5	25	85	.213	.266	.310	.576
2007	27	AAA	OAK	424	70	124	18	2	15	51	21	8	49	105	.292	.373	.450	.824
2008	28	Fgn		51	3	8	0	0	2	5	0	0	2	16	.157	.185	.275	.460
2009	29	AAA	PHI	378	36	87	20	2	5	48	4	3	23	72	.230	.276	.333	.609
10 Seasons				3700	553	978	183	38	91	461	105	51	340	844	.264	.332	.408	.740
AAA (5 seasons)				2124	286	558	95	18	59	267	62	29	162	466	.263	.320	.408	.728
AA (2 seasons)				154	20	37	8	1	4	19	1	0	15	42	.240	.326	.383	.709
A+ (2 seasons)				690	115	195	38	14	16	97	21	13	62	155	.283	.351	.448	.798
A (1 season)				436	57	96	24	3	5	35	11	6	55	117	.220	.309	.323	.632
Fgn (1 season)				51	3	8	0	0	2	5	0	0	2	16	.157	.185	.275	.460
Rk (1 season)				245	72	84	18	2	5	38	10	3	44	48	.343	.446	.494	.940

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 2/12/2010.

And here are his overall minor league fielding stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff		G	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/G
9 Seasons							984	4250	1419	2644	187	485	.956	4.13
SS (9 seasons)						SS	673	3161	1036	1982	143	375	.955	4.48
2B (7 seasons)						2B	110	518	214	294	10	66	.981	4.62
3B (7 seasons)						3B	182	531	132	367	32	43	.940	2.74
RF (1 season)						RF	1	1	1	0	0	0	1.000	1.00
LF (1 season)						LF	17	38	35	1	2	1	.947	2.12
OF (1 season)						OF	1	1	1	0	0	0	1.000	1.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 2/12/2010.

Middle infield depth heading into Spring Training is a good thing. This shouldn't affect Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez much, but it's not good for Elliot Johnson.