The old stats VS valuable discussion, and the reason why the Sporting News used to (do they still?) name a "Player of the Year Award" , usually to the player with the best stats, instead of an MVP. You could say the Silver Slugger Awards do the same thing. I hate to say it, but if you take Captain Intangibles out of the Yankee lineup this year, IMO they wouldn't be anywhere close to winning their division. But if you just condider Trout and Cabrera, the record of the Halos with and without Trout in the lineup is a similar situation. Later