The New York Yankees rise to lead Box-Toppers team rankings after acquiring pitcher J.A. Happ from the Blue Jays.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs rise to lead National League teams.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2018 season team rankings, through the games of Thursday, July 26. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team accumulated this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from July 19 to July 26. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 15 at the All-Star break.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
| 1 | Yankees | 89.6 | 13.7 | 3 |
| 2 | Red Sox | 87.6 | 8.4 | 2 |
| 3 | Astros | 87.6 | 6.0 | 1 |
| 4 | Cubs | 78.6 | 13.4 | 9 |
| 5 | Indians | 78.6 | 10.7 | 5 |
| 6 | Mariners | 76.8 | 4.2 | 4 |
| 7 | Dodgers | 75.4 | 9.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Diamondbacks | 71.4 | 5.0 | 6 |
| 9 | Athletics | 70.4 | 9.5 | 13 |
| 10 | Phillies | 69.7 | 5.5 | 10 |
| 11 | Nationals | 69.7 | 4.0 | 8 |
| 12 | Brewers | 68.6 | 8.0 | 14 |
| 13 | Rockies | 66.3 | 4.0 | 12 |
| 14 | Braves | 65.4 | 3.0 | 11 |
| 15 | Twins | 63.2 | 5.2 | 15 |
| 16 | Cardinals | 59.6 | 4.7 | 18 |
| 17 | Giants | 58.8 | 2.0 | 17 |
| 18 | Angels | 58.6 | 1.5 | 16 |
| 19 | Pirates | 57.9 | 6.5 | 19 |
| 20 | Marlins | 51.6 | 4.2 | 24 |
| 21 | Reds | 49.5 | 2.0 | 23 |
| 22 | Rays | 47.9 | -3.0 | 20 |
| 23 | Tigers | 47.5 | 3.5 | 26 |
| 24 | Mets | 45.1 | 1.5 | 27 |
| 25 | Padres | 43.3 | -4.0 | 25 |
| 26 | Blue Jays | 42.6 | -7.7 | 21 |
| 27 | Rangers | 41.2 | -6.4 | 22 |
| 28 | White Sox | 36.6 | -1.0 | 28 |
| 29 | Royals | 33.2 | 3.5 | 30 |
| 30 | Orioles | 29.4 | -4.5 | 29 |
The Yankees rise past the Houston Astros, Box-Toppers’ top team for the previous five weekly team rankings reports, going back to June 14. The Astros fall to third place.
Yankees players have accumulated 89.6 Box-Toppers points through the games of July 26. They’ve picked up 13.7 points since the last team rankings report July 15, at the All-Star break, the most of any team. Most of their gain comes from picking up the 9.7 Box-Toppers points Happ has earned this season with the Blue Jays. The Yankees Thursday acquired Happ in exhchange for prospects. Happ has the most Box-Toppers points of any player to change teams this season and is now second among Yankees in Box-Toppers player rankings at 19th place overall.
The Yankees have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.644), behind the Boston Red Sox (.683), who rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings with 87.6 Box-Toppers points. The Red Sox narrowly rank ahead of the Astros, who also have 87.6 points. The Red Sox rank ahead because they have more Box-Toppers points since the All-Star break—8.4 vs. 6.0.
The Yankees are led by pitcher Luis Severino with 16.7 Box-Toppers points, who ranks first among all players. Happ now ranks second among Yankees players with 9.7 points. Brett Gardner leads Yankees batters with 5.5 Box-Toppers points, 11th among American League batters. Nineteen different Yankees players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
The Chicago Cubs rise past last week’s National League leading team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, thanks in part to the reported acquisition of pitcher Cole Hamels from the Rangers.
The Cubs have 78.6 Box-Toppers points, including picking up 13.4 points since July 15, second-most of any team. The Cubs also have the biggest rise in Box-Toppers team rankings, moving up five spots from ninth to fourth place overall. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks fall from sixth to eighth place overall with 71.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 5.0 points since July 15.
The Cubs pick up the 6.4 Box-Toppers points Hamels has earned this season with the Rangers.
Top player for the Cubs is pitcher Jose Quintana (8.1 Box-Toppers points), who ranks 12th among National League pitchers. Javier Baez leads Cubs batters with 6.0 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL batters. Twenty-six different Cubs players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2018.
While the Yankees and Cubs benefitted from the season’s biggest trades for Happ and Hamels, the two teams that lost the players had the biggest drop in this week’s Box-Toppers team rankings. Both the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers fell five places, the most of any team:
- The Blue Jays, who lost Happ, fell from 21st to 26th place with 42.6 Box-Toppers points, losing a net of 7.7 points, the most of any team.
- The Rangers, who lost Hamels, fell from 22nd to 27th place with 41.2 Box-Toppers points, losing a net of 6.4 points.
Four other teams had net losses in Box-Toppers points this week because of trading away players:
- The Tampa Bay Rays lost a net of 3.0 Box-Toppers points, falling from 20th to 22nd place with 47.9 points, after trading pitcher Nathan Eovaldi to the Red Sox (4.0 points in 2018).
- The San Diego Padres lost of a net of 4.0 Box-Toppers points, maintaining their rank of 25th place with 43.3 points, after trading closer Brad Hand to the Indians (6.0 points).
- The Chicago White Sox lost a net of 1.0 Box-Toppers point, maintaining their rank of 28th place with 36.6 points, after trading closer Joakim Soria to the Brewers (3.0 points).
- The Baltimore Orioles lost a net of 4.5 Box-Toppers points, falling from 29th to 30th and last place with 29.4 points, after trading shortstop Manny Machado to the Dodgers (4.0 points) and releasing pitcher Chris Tillman (2.0 points). The Orioles also traded closer Zach Britton to the Yankees, but Britton has 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018.
In addition to the Yankees and Cubs gaining more than 10 points since the All-Star break, thanks in part to trades, the Cleveland Indians gained 10.7 points. The Indians acquired closer Brad Hand from the Padres (6.0 points). The Indians maintain their fifth-place spot in team rankings with 78.6 accumulated points.
The Washington Nationals slipped out of the top 10, falling from eighth to 11th place with 69.7 Box-Toppers points, picking up 4.0 points since July 15. The Nationals have the same Box-Toppers point total as the 10th-place Philadelphia Phillies, but the Phillies rank higher because they earned more points since the All-Star break—5.5 vs. 4.0. The Oakland Athletics rose into the top 10, rising from 13th to ninth place with 70.4 Box-Toppers points, picking up 9.5 points since July 5. The Athletics acquired closer Jeurys Familia from the Mets (4.0 points).
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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