The Chicago Cubs finish the season where they spent most of it—in first place in Box-Toppers team rankings.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' final team rankings, through the games of Sunday, Oct 2. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from Sept. 23 to Oct. 2. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept 22.| 10/2 | Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago |
| 1 | Cubs | 139.5 | 7.5 | 1 |
| 2 | Red Sox | 128.3 | 5.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 125.2 | 5.4 | 3 |
| 4 | Indians | 123.7 | 6.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Rangers | 122.5 | 7.5 | 5 |
| 6 | Mets | 119.1 | 6.7 | 6 |
| 7 | Orioles | 116.6 | 8.5 | 8 |
| 8 | Nationals | 116.1 | 6.0 | 7 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | 114.0 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Giants | 112.7 | 8.7 | 11 |
| 11 | Tigers | 109.4 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 12 | Cardinals | 100.0 | 7.2 | 14 |
| 13 | Astros | 96.1 | 3.0 | 13 |
| 14 | Mariners | 91.7 | 7.2 | 17 |
| 15 | Royals | 90.0 | 4.5 | 15 |
| 16 | Rockies | 88.1 | 3.0 | 16 |
| 17 | White Sox | 86.6 | 8.2 | 21 |
| 18 | Phillies | 85.8 | 2.0 | 18 |
| 19 | Pirates | 85.7 | 3.5 | 19 |
| 20 | Yankees | 84.5 | 5.0 | 20 |
| 21 | Angels | 80.7 | 8.9 | 22 |
| 22 | Marlins | 76.3 | -19.4 | 12 |
| 23 | Dbacks | 74.5 | 5.0 | 24 |
| 24 | Rays | 74.2 | 3.7 | 23 |
| 25 | Brewers | 73.2 | 4.0 | 25 |
| 26 | Braves | 70.2 | 6.0 | 27 |
| 27 | Twins | 70.1 | 4.5 | 26 |
| 28 | Reds | 69.5 | 6.5 | 28 |
| 29 | Athletics | 61.4 | 3.5 | 29 |
| 30 | Padres | 61.3 | 6.0 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox continue to lead American League teams and the non-playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels were the hottest team of the season’s final 10 days.
Cubs players have accumulated 139.5 Box-Toppers points this season, picking up 7.5 points since the previous team rankings report Sept. 22. The Cubs also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.640). The Cubs are led by pitcher Jon Lester (22.1 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is Kris Bryant (10.5 points). Twenty-four different Cubs players earned Player of the Game honors this season.
In 24 Box-Toppers weekly team rankings reports this season, the Cubs were in the first place in 22 of them. In the season’s first report on April 14, they had the same Box-Toppers point total of the week’s top-ranked team, the Philadelphia Phillies (9.0), but ranked second based on a tiebreaker.
And on July 21, they ranked second to the Boston Red Sox, 81.9-75.8. The Red Sox had just acquired Drew Pomeranz from the Padres, which increased their accumulated Box-Toppers point total by 10.4, part of a 17.1-point gain that week, which propelled them from sixth to first place.
However, by the next week, July 28, the Cubs acquired Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees, picking up his 5.4 Box-Toppers points, part of an 8.9 point-gain that week, which helped put the Cubs back in first place, a spot they did not relinquish for the rest of the season.
The Red Sox maintain their spot atop AL teams with 128.3 Box-Toppers points, picking up 5.0 points in the past week. The Red Sox are led by pitchers David Price and Drew Pomeranz (each with 12.4 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is David Ortiz (8.0 points). Twenty-eight different Red Sox players earned Player of the Game honors this season.
While the Red Sox have more Box-Toppers points than any AL team, the team is third among AL teams in winning percentage (.574).
The Los Angeles Angels are the hottest team of the season’s final 10 days, picking up 8.9 points since Sept. 22, more than any other team. The Angels finish with 80.7 Box-Toppers points and move from 22nd place last week to 21st this week.
The Miami Marlins had the biggest Box-Toppers point drop of the week of 19.4 points because of the death of Jose Fernandez Sept. 25. Fernandez ranked third among all players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 22.4. The Marlins fell from 12th place to 22nd place in this week’s rankings.
The top 10 teams in Box-Toppers team rankings are also the 10 teams that qualified for the postseason. Here are the playoff match-ups along with each team’s final Box-Toppers team ranking:
American League Wild Card (Tuesday)
7. Orioles vs. 9. Blue Jays
National League Wild Card (Wednesday)
10. Giants vs. 6. Mets
American League Division Series (begins Thursday)
Orioles or Blue Jays vs. 5. Rangers
2. Red Sox vs. 4. Indians
National League Division Series (begins Friday)
Giants or Mets vs. 1. Cubs
3. Dodgers vs. 8. Nationals
The Detroit Tigers were the highest-ranked team that did not qualify for the playoffs. The Tigers finished 11th with 109.4 Box-Toppers points, falling from 10th place last week.
Seven of the 10 teams Box-Toppers picked in preseason to make the postseason actually made it. The only exceptions—Royals, Angels and Cardinals. The three teams Box-Toppers did not pick that made it were the Rangers, Orioles and Giants.
Box-Toppers picks for both league championship series are still alive and possible. In the AL, Box-Toppers picked the Blue Jays over the Indians. And in the NL, Box-Toppers picked the Cubs over the Dodgers. That also means Box-Toppers’ World Series pick is also still alive as playoffs start: Box-Toppers picked the Blue Jays over the Cubs.
The San Diego Padres remain in 30th and last place among all teams in Box-Toppers final team rankings report of 2016 with 61.3 Box-Toppers points, picking up 6.0 points in the past week. They nearly caught the 29th-ranked Oakland Athletics (61.4).
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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