I've always held up that protection goes a long way for most baseball players. Not only who they're batting ahead of and who they're batting behind but who else is in the order anywhere. We've seen the effects recently when looking at Andre Ethier's production with Manny in the lineup and with out Manny in the lineup. And, I'm assuming that we'll see Russell Martin's numbers go up when he (even at his very best) would have looked out of place in the Yankees lineup.

So - what I'm asking you - is there a number, a measurement, a tool that can be used to measure this numerically? Can you predict how a player would do in a different lineup? Can you predict how a player would do when he's no longer the scariest guy in a lineup?

Thanks!