Russ, while I agree with your main point about Higgy not being a MVP caliber player, I think you’ve over estimated the Juan Gonzalez protection effect. At your suggestion, I took a look at the statistics from last year and I found Bobby was much more productive when Juan was not in the lineup.
| AB | AVG | OBA | SLG | OPS | |
| With Gonzalez | 416 | .272 | .350 | .505 | .855 |
| Without Gonzalez | 181 | .365 | .439 | .613 | 1.052 |
| Totals | 597 | .300 | .377 | .538 | .915 |
Now does this data tell us that Bobby is a better hitter without Juan? Hardly. Plus it does nothing to explain Higgy’s dropoff this year. I just mostly felt the need to not give Juan credit for anything positive that happened in Detroit.