Former third baseman Eric Chavez hired as special assistant to Angels GM Billy Eppler

Former major league third baseman Eric Chavez, who played 17 seasons with the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks, has been hired as a special assistant to new Angels General Manager Billy Eppler.

Chavez, 37, retired as a player after the 2014 season and spent 2015 as a special assistant under Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and Eppler, a former Yankees assistant GM.

His duties with the Angels will include on-field instruction during spring training and with the minor league affiliates; major league, minor league and some international scouting; and some special-assignment scouting.

Chavez did some scouting, evaluated Yankees minor league players and served as a part-time minor league instructor during the season. He also served as coach and instructor during spring training.

Chavez hit .268 with a .342 on-base percentage, .475 slugging percentage, 260 home runs, 902 runs batted in and won six Gold Glove Awards during his playing career, the first 13 years of which were spent in Oakland.

Chavez played two seasons (2011-12) with the Yankees, where he developed a relationship with Eppler, and his final two seasons (2013-14) with the Diamondbacks.

Eppler, who was named Angels GM on Oct. 4, is also in the process of replacing assistant GMs Scott Servais, who became the Seattle Mariners’ manager, and Matt Klentak, who became the Philadelphia Phillies’ GM. The positions of hitting instructor and pitching coach also must be filled.

The Angels also lost special assistant Tim Bogar, who left to become Servais’ bench coach in Seattle.