The Detroit Tigers regain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings this week, boosted by trade deadline deals adding pitching depth.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2025 team rankings through games of Thursday, July 31. 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 25 to July 31. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 24.| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigers | 87.7 | 14.4 | 2 |
| 2 | Yankees | 84.8 | 13.5 | 5 |
| 3 | Padres | 84.0 | 19.0 | 14 |
| 4 | Rangers | 83.5 | 15.7 | 11 |
| 5 | Mariners | 83.0 | 11.5 | 4 |
| 6 | Phillies | 80.6 | 6.5 | 1 |
| 7 | Red Sox | 79.6 | 11.2 | 9 |
| 8 | Cubs | 79.5 | 7.0 | 3 |
| 9 | Mets | 76.6 | 11.2 | 12 |
| 10 | Royals | 75.2 | 15.7 | 17 |
| 11 | Astros | 73.8 | 5.5 | 10 |
| 12 | Brewers | 73.7 | 3.0 | 6 |
| 13 | Blue Jays | 73.1 | 3.5 | 7 |
| 14 | Reds | 72.3 | 7.0 | 13 |
| 15 | Dodgers | 70.8 | 1.8 | 8 |
| 16 | Angels | 63.4 | 5.0 | 19 |
| 17 | Braves | 60.3 | 8.2 | 25 |
| 18 | Guardians | 58.9 | 2.0 | 22 |
| 18 | Marlins | 58.9 | 2.0 | 21 |
| 20 | Giants | 55.3 | -5.7 | 15 |
| 21 | Cardinals | 54.9 | -3.0 | 20 |
| 22 | Twins | 54.7 | -2.0 | 23 |
| 23 | Rays | 54.4 | -6.3 | 16 |
| 24 | Pirates | 49.8 | -1.0 | 26 |
| 25 | Orioles | 47.3 | -7.3 | 24 |
| 26 | Athletics | 45.3 | -2.3 | 27 |
| 27 | Diamondbacks | 44.7 | -14.5 | 18 |
| 28 | White Sox | 41.9 | -2.2 | 29 |
| 29 | Nationals | 41.6 | -5.0 | 28 |
| 30 | Rockies | 29.8 | -2.0 | 30 |
Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres rocket to the lead among National League teams with the biggest collective trade deadline splash, making them the week’s hottest team.
Last week’s overall leader, the Philadelphia Phillies, who by comparison made few trade deadline moves, fall to sixth place overall.
Tigers lead
Tigers players have accumulated 87.7 Box-Toppers points this season, picking up 14.4 in the past week, to rise from second place last week to first place this week, passing previous leader, the Philadelphia Phillies, who fall to sixth place overall with 80.6 points, picking up 6.5 in the past week.
The Tigers lead, 2.9 points ahead of the second-place New York Yankees (84.8 points, picking up 13.5 in the past week, rising from fifth place last week). The Tigers also lead American League teams for the sixth straight week ahead of the Yankees.
This is the sixth week this season the Tigers have led team rankings. They have led five of the last eight weeks and four of the last six weeks.
The Tigers picked up 10.0 of their points this week by acquiring these four players prior to the trade deadline:
Starting pitcher Charlie Morton, who had earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points this season with the Orioles.
Starting pitcher Chris Paddack, 2.0 points, from the Twins (he’s since earned 1.0 point since joining the Tigers).
Closing pitcher Kyle Finnegan, 2.0 points, from the Nationals.
Relief pitcher Paul Sewald, 1.0 point, from the Tigers.
They lost 1.0 point by dealing relief pitcher Dietrich Enns to the Orioles.
They also picked up 4.7 points in four wins this week (including the 1.0 point by the newly-acquired Paddack).
The Tigers have baseball’s third-best winning percentage (.582), behind the Milwaukee Brewers (.593), the Chicago Cubs (.583) and tied with the Toronto Blue Jays (.582). The Brewers are 12th in Box-Toppers team rankings (73.7 points, picking up 3.0 in the past week, falling from sixth last week), the Cubs are eighth (79.5 points, picking up 7.0 in the past week, falling from third last week) and the Blue Jays are 13th (73.1 points, pickig up 3.5 in the past week, falling from seventh last week).
The Tigers are led by pitcher Tarik Skubal (16.4 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, first among AL pitchers). Tigers’ best batter is Riley Greene (9.0 points, first among AL batters). Twenty-seven different Tigers players have earned Player of the Game honors so far this season.
Padres, week’s hottest team, rise to lead NL teams
Padres players have accumulated 84.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, picking up 19.0 in the past week, most among all teams and rising from 14th place last week to third place overall this week. That 11-spot jump is the biggest among all teams.
They pass last week’s leader, the Phillies, who fall to second among NL teams, 3.4 points behind the Padres (80.6, sixth overall).
This week, prior to the trade deadline, the Padres acquired six players with a 17.0 combined Box-Toppers points:
Closing pitcher Mason Miller, 5.0 points, from the Athletics.
Starting pitcher JP Sears, 4.0 points, from the Athletics.
Outfielder/infielder Ryan O'Hearn, 3.5 points, from the Orioles.
Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, 2.0 points, from the Brewers.
Outfielder Ramón Laureano, 1.5 points, from the Orioles.
Third baseman Will Wagner, 1.0 point, from the Blue Jays.
The Padres lost the 4.0 points earned by starting pitcher Stephen Kolek by trading him to the Royals. The Padres also gained 6.0 points in five wins this week.
Top 20 trade deadline movers
Merrill Kelly has the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among players changing teams in the days leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. Kelly, whose 9.7 Box-Toppers points ranks 20th overall, was traded July 31 from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Texas Rangers. Here are players with the 20 highest 2025 Box-Toppers point totals who changed teams prior to the trade deadline. Players are shown with their old team, their new team and their 2025 Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.| Player | Pos | Old team | New team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | D‑backs | Rangers | 9.7 |
| 2 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | D‑backs | Mariners | 6.5 |
| 3 | Bradley, Taj 4780 | pi sp | Rays | Twins | 6.0 |
| 4 | Falter, Bailey 4473 | pi sp | Phillies | Royals | 5.7 |
| 5 | Devers, Rafael 4038* | dh | Red Sox | Giants | 5.2 |
| 6 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | Orioles | Tigers | 5.0 |
| 7 | Miller, Mason 4975 | pi cp | Athletics | Padres | 5.0 |
| 8 | Houser, Adrian 4162 | pi sp | White Sox | Rays | 4.7 |
| 9 | May, Dustin 4214 | pi sp | Dodgers | Red Sox | 4.7 |
| 10 | Littell, Zack 4533 | pi sp | Rays | Reds | 4.0 |
| 11 | Sears, JP 4627 | pi sp | Athletics | Padres | 4.0 |
| 12 | Kolek, Stephen 5046 | pi sp | Padres | Royals | 4.0 |
| 13 | Naylor, Josh 4154 | dh 1b | D‑backs | Mariners | 3.5 |
| 14 | O’Hearn, Ryan 4043 | rf 1b dh | Orioles | Padres | 3.5 |
| 15 | Castro, Willi 4334 | lf rf | Twins | Cubs | 3.5 |
| 16 | Sanchez, Jesus 4551 | rf lf | Marlins | Astros | 3.0 |
| 17 | Paddack, Chris 4093* | pi sp | Twins | Tigers | 3.0 |
| 18 | Fedde, Erick 4065 | pi sp | Cardinals | Braves | 2.7 |
| 19 | Vaughn, Andrew 4445 | 1b | White Sox | Brewers | 2.5 |
| 20 | Call, Alex 4732 | rf cf ph | Nationals | Dodgers | 2.5 |
* Players who have already earned Box-Toppers points with their new team: Devers has earned 1.5 of his points since being traded to the Giants, Paddack has earned 1.0 of his points since being traded to the Tigers.
Back to top
The Padres have the sixth-best winning percentage among NL teams (.550) and are led by pitcher Nick Pivetta (14.7 Box-Toppers points, third overall, second among NL pitchers). Padres top batter is Manny Machado (5.5 points, 13th among NL batters). Machado earned 2.0 points with two separate Player of the Game honors this week. Twenty-four different Padres players have earned Box-Toppers points so far in 2025.
Biggest fall: Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline in both Box-Toppers points and ranking spots dropped after a big trade deadline player sell-off.
The Diamondbacks had a net loss of 14.5 points this week—one of 11 teams with a net loss in points at the trade deadline—falling nine spots from 18th to 27th overall with 44.7 Box-Toppers points.
The 14.5-point drop was the largest of the week, nearly double the loss of the next largest of -7.3 by the Baltimore Orioles. The nine-spot drop was also the biggest fall by all teams this week.
Notably, the Diamondbacks dealt away three key players at the trade deadline, two of whom have the most 2025 Box-Toppers points among all players shifted prior to the July 31 trade deadline:
Starting pitcher Merrill Kelly had the most points of all trade deadline players (9.7 points, 20th among all players), acquired by the Rangers from the Diamondbacks.
Third baseman Eugenio Suárez had the second-most points in that group (6.5 points), acquired by the Mariners from the Diamondbacks.
One other Diamondbacks player was also traded away: Designated hitter/first baseman Josh Naylor (3.5 points) to the Mariners.
The Diamondbacks also won only one of their six games this week.
Big gainers at trade deadline
The Padres made the biggest gain at the trade deadline (+19.0 points over the past week). There were eight teams with gains over 10.0 or more points in the past week. The others:
+15.7: Texas Rangers, rising from 11th to fourth overall with 83.5 points, notably gaining starting pitcher Merrill Kelly from the Diamondbacks, whose 9.7 points is most by all trade deadline players.
+15.7: Kansas City Royals, rising from 17th to 10th with 75.2 points, notably gaining starting pitcher Bailey Falter (5.7 points) from the Phillies and starter Stephen Kolek (4.0) from the Padres.
+14.4: Detroit Tigers, who rise to lead all teams.
+13.4: New York Yankees, rising from fifth to second overall with 84.8 points, picking up a combined 10.0 Box-Toppers points among six players—closer Camilo Doval (2.0) from the Giants, third baseman Ryan McMahon (2.0) from the Rockies, closer David Bednar (2.0) from the Pirates, outfielder/infielder Jose Caballero (2.0) from the Rays, infielder Amed Rosario (1.0) from the Nationals and outfielder Austin Slater (1.0) from the White Sox.
+11.5: Seattle Mariners, falling from fourth to fifth overall with 83.0 points, notably picking up third baseman Eugenio Suárez (6.5) and designated hitter/first baseman Josh Naylor (3.5), both from the Diamondbacks.
+11.2: Boston Red Sox, rising from ninth to seventh place overall with 79.6 points, notably picking up pitcher Dustin May (4.7) from the Dodgers and pitcher Zack Littell (4.0) from the Rays. Earlier this year, the Red Sox dealt designated hitter Rafael Devers (now with 5.2 points) to the Giants.
+11.2: New York Mets, rising from 12th to ninth place overall with 76.6 points, picking up four players with a combined 7.7 points—closer Ryan Helsley (2.0) from the Cardinals, outfielder Cedric Mullins (2.0) from the Orioles, reliever Gregory Soto (2.0) from the Orioles and reliever Tyler Rogers (1.7) from the Giants.
Big sellers at trade deadline
There are 11 teams that had a net loss of points from last week after trading away key players, mainly for valued prospects. The Diamondbacks, as previously mentioned, had the biggest net loss of -14.5 points. The others:
-7.3: Baltimore Orioles, notably losing starter Charlie Morton (5.0) to the Tigers and outfielder Ryan O’Hearn (3.5) to the Padres.
-6.3: Tampa Bay Rays, notably losing starters Taj Bradley (6.0) to the Twins and Zack Littell (4.0) to the Reds, but picking up starter Adrian Houser (4.7) from the White Sox.
-5.7: San Francisco Giants.
-5.0: Washington Nationals.
-3.0: St. Louis Cardinals.
-2.3: Athletics.
-2.2: Chicago White Sox.
-2.0: Colorado Rockies.
-2.0: Minnesota Twins.
-1.0: Pittsburgh Pirates.
Last place: Rockies
The Colorado Rockies remain in 30th and last place for the 15th straight week with 29.8 Box-Toppers points, with a net loss of 2.0 points in the past week.
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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