Selections for Major League Baseball’s 2020 “All-MLB” teams announced this past week rarely coincided with the season’s Box-Toppers points leaders.
2020 All-MLB team comparisons
Major League Baseball announced its All-MLB teams for 2020, top players at each position as voted by fans and a panel of experts. A "First Team" and "Second Team" were named, regardless of American League or National League. Shown below are the All-MLB teams and each players' 2020 Box-Toppers point total and rank in points among all players. Below that is Box-Toppers choice for a 2020 All-MLB team, based on the Box-Toppers points leaders at each position.| Pos | First team | Team | BTP | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 3.5 | 70 |
| 2B | DJ LeMahieu | Yankees | 3.5 | 75 |
| SS | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Padres | 3.0 | 94 |
| 3B | Manny Machado | Padres | 3.0 | 104 |
| CA | Salvador Perez | Royals | 0.0 | 958 |
| OF | Mookie Betts | Dodgers | 2.5 | 131 |
| OF | Mike Trout | Angels | 4.5 | 40 |
| OF | Juan Soto | Nationals | 2.0 | 161 |
| DH | Marcell Ozuna | Braves | 4.5 | 38 |
| SP | Shane Bieber | Indians | 11.4 | 1 |
| SP | Trevor Bauer | Reds | 10.0 | 2 |
| SP | Yu Darvish | Cubs | 9.7 | 3 |
| SP | Max Fried | Braves | 5.7 | 26 |
| RP | Liam Hendriks | Athletics | 4.0 | 49 |
| RP | Nick Anderson | Rays | 1.0 | 332 |
| Pos | Second team | Team | BTP | Rank |
| 1B | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 4.5 | 41 |
| 2B | Brandon Lowe | Rays | 1.0 | 407 |
| SS | Corey Seager | Dodgers | 3.5 | 79 |
| 3B | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 3.5 | 78 |
| CA | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 3.5 | 71 |
| OF | Ronald Acuna Jr. | Braves | 1.5 | 264 |
| OF | Mike Yastrzemski | Giants | 1.0 | 411 |
| OF | Michael Conforto | Mets | 1.0 | 300 |
| DH | Nelson Cruz | Twins | 3.0 | 82 |
| SP | Dinelson Lamet | Padres | 9.0 | 5 |
| SP | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 7.4 | 12 |
| SP | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | 7.7 | 9 |
| SP | Kenta Maeda | Twins | 8.4 | 7 |
| RP | Brad Hand | Indians | 1.0 | 303 |
| RP | Devin Williams | Brewers | 1.0 | 494 |
| Pos | Box-Toppers | Team | BTP | Rank |
| 1B | Luke Voit | Yankees | 6.0 | 22 |
| 2B | Asdrubal Cabrera | Nationals | 4.5 | 39 |
| SS | Tim Anderson | White Sox | 4.5 | 42 |
| 3B | Josh Donaldson | Twins | 4.0 | 48 |
| CA | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 3.5 | 71 |
| OF | Eloy Jimenez | White Sox | 5.5 | 28 |
| OF | Max Kepler | Twins | 5.0 | 31 |
| OF | Kyle Tucker | Astros | 5.0 | 32 |
| DH | Marcell Ozuna | Braves | 4.5 | 38 |
| SP | Shane Bieber | Indians | 11.4 | 1 |
| SP | Trevor Bauer | Reds | 10.0 | 2 |
| SP | Yu Darvish | Cubs | 9.7 | 3 |
| SP | Lance Lynn | Rangers | 9.1 | 4 |
| RP | Framber Valdez | Astros | 4.7 | 35 |
| RP | Liam Hendriks | Athletics | 4.0 | 49 |
Only one All-MLB First Team batter was among the Box-Toppers points leaders at his position—Marcell Ozuna of the Braves led all designated hitters with 4.5 Box-Toppers points. However, three of the four All-MLB First Team starting pitchers were also among the top three players in Box-Toppers points for 2020—Shane Bieber of the Indians (11.4), Trevor Bauer of the Reds (10.0) and Yu Darvish of the Cubs (9.7).
The All-MLB team was selected with half the vote coming from fans and half coming from an expert panel. Unlike the selections for baseball’s All-Star Game, players on not selected based on their affiliation with American League or National League. Rather, all players are chosen regardless of league as “First Team” or “Second Team” players.
Here is a Box-Toppers position-by-position look at the All-MLB teams, how players chosen for the teams fared in Box-Toppers points and who Box-Toppers would have chosen for those spots based on their season Box-Toppers point total.
One thing to keep in mind is that the 2020 pandemic-shortened season was extremely unusual. The 60 games played were just 37 percent of the usual 162 played. So in many cases, there just wasn’t a large enough sample size to truly differentiate top players by position.
First base
Freddie Freeman of the Braves was chosen as the First Team selection. His 3.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 70th among all players and sixth among all MLB first basemen. Freeman was also chosen as 2020 NL Most Valuable Player, ranking eighth among all batters, though only 1.0 point behind NL batting leader Marcell Ozuna of the Braves (3.5).
Second Team selection was Jose Abreu of the White Sox, who had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players and third among MLB first basemen.
Box-Toppers would have chosen Luke Voit of the Yankees, who had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all players and most among all batters.
Second base
DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees was chosen as First Team selection. His 3.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 75th among all players and second among MLB second basemen.
Second Team selection was Brandon Lowe of the Rays, who had 1.0 Box-Toppers point, 407th among all players.
Box-Toppers selection, Cavan Biggio of the Blue Jays, had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 72nd among all players. Though LeMahieu, the All-MLB First Team selection at this position, had the same Box-Toppers point total, Biggio ranked just ahead because he had more 2019 Box-Toppers points—6.2 vs. 3.5.
Shortstop
Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres was chosen as First Team selection. His 3.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 94th among all players, sixth among MLB shortstops.
Second Team selection was Corey Seager of the Dodgers, whose 3.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 79th among all players and fourth among MLB shortstops.
Box-Toppers selection, Tim Anderson of the White Sox, had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, 42nd among all players.
Third base
Manny Machado of the Padres was chosen as First Team selection. His 3.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 104th among all players, sixth among MLB third basemen.
Second Team selection was Jose Ramirez of the Indians, whose 3.5 Box-Toppers points ranked 78th among all players, fifth among MLB third basemen.
Box-Toppers selection, Josh Donaldson of the Twins, had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all players.
Catcher
Salvador Perez of the Royals was chosen as First Team selection. Though he returned in 2020 after being out all of 2019, recovering from Tommy John surgery, he didn’t earn Player of the Game honors in any of the 37 games (and 18 Royals wins) in which he played. So Perez had 0.0 Box-Toppers points, which ranked him behind the 497 players who did earn Box-Toppers points in 2020, in 958th place overall and 59th among MLB catchers.
Second Team selection was J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies, who was also Box-Toppers selection for top catcher. Realmuto earned 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 71st among all players and first among MLB catchers.
Outfield
Mookie Betts of the Dodgers, Mike Trout of the Angels and Juan Soto of the Nationals were First Team selections. Since they aren’t listed in alphabetical order, I have to assume they are ranked in order of their listing.
However, none of the three were among the top three outfielders in Box-Toppers points in 2020. Trout ranks highest, with 4.5 Box-Toppers points, he ranked 40th overall, fifth among MLB outfielders. Betts with 2.5 points ranked 131st overall, 21st among MLB outfielders. And Soto with 2.0 points ranked 161st overall, 29th among MLB outfielders.
Second Team selections were Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves (1.5 points, 264th overall, 56th among MLB outfielders), Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants (1.0 point, 411th overall, 94th among MLB outfielders) and Michael Conforto of the Mets (1.0 point, 300th overall, 70th among MLB outfielders).
Box-Toppers would have selected Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox (5.5 Box-Toppers points, 28th overall), Max Kepler of the Twins (5.0 points, 31st overall) and Kyle Tucker of the Astros (5.0 points, 32nd overall).
Designated hitter
Marcell Ozuna of the Braves was First Team selection. He was also Box-Toppers choice at the position, leading MLB designated hitters in Box-Toppers points with 4.5, 38th among all players.
Second Team selection was Nelson Cruz of the Twins, whose 3.0 points ranked 82nd among all players, eighth among MLB designated hitters.
Starting pitchers
Three of the four starting pitchers selected for the MLB All-Star team were also Box-Toppers’ three top-ranked pitchers (and overall top-ranked players) for 2020.
Indians pitcher Shane Bieber, Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer and Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish were the top three listed MLB All-Star starting pitchers and were also the top three players in Box-Toppers points in 2020. Bieber had 11.4 Box-Toppers points, first among all players, Bauer had 10.0 points, second overall and Darvish had 9.7 points, third overall.
The fourth-ranked MLB All-Star starting pitcher is Max Fried of the Braves. He had 5.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 26th among all players, 25th among all pitchers.
MLB All-Star Second Team selections for starting pitchers are Dinelson Lamet of the Padres (9.0 points, ranked fifth overall), Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (7.4 points, 12th), Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (7.7 points, ninth) and Kenta Maeda of the Twins (8.4 points, seventh).
The top four starting pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings were the top three from the MLB All-Star First Team (Bieber, Bauer and Darvish), plus Lance Lynn of the Rangers with 9.1 points, ranked fourth overall. Lynn was not named to either the First or Second teams.
Relief pitchers
Liam Hendriks of the Athletics and Nick Anderson of the Rays were selected to the MLB All-Star First Team. Hendriks was also the second-ranked relief pitcher in 2020 Box-Toppers rankings with 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 49th overall. Anderson had 1.0 Box-Toppers point, ranked 332nd overall.
MLB’s Second Team relief pitchers are Brad Hand of the Indians (1.0 point, 303rd overall) and Devin Williams of the Brewers (1.0 point, 494th overall).
Box-Toppers’ top two relief pitchers are Framber Valdez of the Astros with 4.7 Box-Toppers points, 35th overall and Hendriks. (While Valdez was primarily a starter in 2020—starting in 10 of his 11 appearances in 2020—he earned one of his three Player of the Game honors this season as a reliever and he’s primarily been a reliever in previous seasons.)
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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