Astros remain active buyers and stay atop team rankings. Dodgers pass Cardinals in NL. Blue Jays, picking up Price & Tulo, gain most points in past week.
Read MoreThree players in Box-Toppers player top 10 lists involved in deadline trades; Kershaw still overall player ranking leader
The biggest changes on Box-Toppers player rankings have not been among the leaders but rather the uniforms some of the top players are now wearing.
Several players in Box-Toppers’ top 10 lists were traded in the days before the July 31 deadline, including:
Top players
Through Thursday, July 31| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 18.1 |
| 3 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.2 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 15.4 |
| 5 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.0 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.8 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.8 |
| 9 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 13.4 |
| 10 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 13.1 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 18.1 |
| 2 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 14.1 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.8 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 12.7 |
| 7 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 |
| 9 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 12.4 |
| 10 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | oak al | 10.0 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 12.0 |
| 2 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 8.5 |
| 3 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh lf | tor al | 8.0 |
| 4 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | bos al | 8.0 |
| 5 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 7.5 |
| 6 | Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 7.5 |
| 7 | Colabello, Chris 3235 | 1b dh rf | min al | 6.2 |
| 8 | Aybar, Erick 2416 | ss | ana al | 6.0 |
| 9 | Carter, Chris 2828 | dh | hou al | 5.5 |
| 10 | Hunter, Torii 1190 | rf | det al | 5.5 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.2 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 15.4 |
| 4 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.8 |
| 6 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.4 |
| 7 | Lincecum, Tim 2288 | pi sp | sf nl | 10.4 |
| 8 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | atl nl | 10.0 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | atl nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | col nl | 11.6 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.7 |
| 3 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 6.5 |
| 4 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 5.5 |
| 5 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 5.5 |
| 6 | Morse, Michael 2020 | lf | sf nl | 5.5 |
| 7 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 5.5 |
| 8 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | atl nl | 5.2 |
| 9 | Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 5.2 |
| 10 | Duda, Lucas 2818 | 1b | nym nl | 5.0 |
• Pitcher David Price, traded from the Rays to the Tigers. Price has 14.1 Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth among all players (as of July 31) and second among AL pitchers.
• Pitcher Jon Lester, traded from the Red Sox to the Athletics. Lester has 10.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 10th among AL pitchers (as of July 31).
• Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, traded from the Athletics to the Red Sox. Cespedes has 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking fourth among AL batters (as of July 31).
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw continued to lead all players in Box-Toppers points as of July 31, with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, nearing the 21.7 points he had in 2013 to lead all players.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer continued to lead all AL players with 17.1 points. Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies continued to lead National League batters with 11.6 points. And Jose Abreu of the White Sox continued to lead American League batters, with 12.0 points.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
Trade deadline deals most help Cardinals, Tigers; Athletics still top rankings
The Oakland Athletics remain atop Box-Toppers team rankings, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers improved in the rankings by picking up star players in deadline trades.
Athletics players had accumulated 87.5 Box-Toppers points through the games of Thursday, July 31.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, July 31. 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 have accumulated since the last team rankings report through July 24.| 731 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Athletics | 87.5 | 4.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Angels | 82.5 | 6.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 80.9 | 9.2 | 3 |
| 4 | Cardinals | 78.2 | 15.7 | 11 |
| 5 | Tigers | 75.2 | 8.1 | 6 |
| 6 | Blue Jays | 74.0 | 6.7 | 5 |
| 7 | Giants | 73.0 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 8 | Braves | 68.9 | 5.0 | 9 |
| 9 | Nationals | 68.9 | 5.0 | 8 |
| 10 | Brewers | 68.1 | 2.0 | 7 |
The Los Angeles Dodgers remained the top National League team with 80.9 Box-Toppers points, though they are still in third place overall, trailing the second-place Los Angeles Angels, with 82.5 Box-Toppers points.
The Cardinals picked up the most Box-Toppers points during the week—15.7. They rose from 11th to fourth place in Box-Toppers team rankings. They picked up 6.7 of those points in deadline trades. They traded away outfielder Allen Craig (2.0 Box-Toppers points) and pitcher Joe Kelly (1.0 point) to the Red Sox for pitcher John Lackey (9.7 points).
The Tigers, however, picked up the most net Box-Toppers points through trades during deadline week—7.1. They traded away outfielder Austin Jackson (1.0 point, to the Mariners) and pitcher Drew Smyly (6.0 points, to the Rays). They picked up David Price (14.1 points, from the Rays). Price has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any player traded this season.
Recent trades
How did last week's deadline trades affect key teams involved? The Tigers traded away players who had a combined 7.0 Box-Toppers points and picked up David Price, who had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, to gain a net of 7.1 Box-Toppers points. The Red Sox traded away players with 21.7 Box-Toppers points and picked up players with 11.0, losing a net 10.7 points.| Team | BTP lost |
BTP gained |
BTP net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tigers | -7.0 | 14.1 | 7.1 |
| Cardinals | -3.0 | 9.7 | 6.7 |
| Athletics | -8.0 | 12.0 | 4.0 |
| Mariners | -1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Rays | -14.1 | 7.0 | -7.1 |
| Red Sox | -21.7 | 11.0 | -10.7 |
The Athletics added 4.0 Box-Toppers points at the trade deadline, picking up two players from Red Sox—pitcher Jon Lester (10.0 points) and outfielder Johnny Gomes (2.0 points)—in exchange for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (8.0 points). Cespedes, the new member of the Red Sox, has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any batter traded this season—he ranks third among AL batters.
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox both lost more Box-Toppers points than they gained through trades. The Rays, trading away Price, lost a net of 7.1 points. And the Red Sox, trading away Lester, Lackey and Gomes, lost a net of 10.7 points.
The Dodgers gained the most Box-Toppers points of any team not involved in key deadline trades, picking up 9.2 points.
With the trade, the Red Sox drop to the bottom of Box-Toppers team rankings, displacing the former 30th-place team, the Chicago Cubs. The Red Sox shed 12.7 Box-Toppers points through the week and had 41.0 points as of July 31, falling from 22nd place. The Cubs moved to 29th place with 43.2.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.
Trade lifts Athletics to top of Box-Toppers team rankings, pushes Cubs to bottom
The trade Friday sending Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs to the Oakland Athletics sends the Athletics to the top of Box-Toppers team rankings and the Cubs to the bottom.
These players were traded from the Cubs to the Athletics:
• Pitcher Jason Hammel, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, previously ranked ninth among National League pitchers, now ranked 10th among American League pitchers. (Hammel had been the Cubs leader in Box-Toppers points.)
• Pitcher Jeff Samardzija, 3.0 Box-Toppers points.
These players were reported to have been traded from the Athletics to the Cubs:
• Shortstop prospect Addison Russell, who has yet to make his Major League debut.
• Outfield prospect Billy McKinney, who has yet to make his Major League debut.
• Pitcher Dan Straily, who has 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season.
In the short term, the Athletics have a net gain of 10.7 Box-Toppers points—picking up the 11.7 points from the Cubs and losing Straily’s 1.0 point.
For Box-Toppers rankings, each team inherits the total points of players acquired and loses the points of players traded away. This provides the Athletics a huge boost. At the July 3 team rankings report, the Athletics were the second-ranked team with 59.9 Box-Toppers points, just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (61.6). The trade would boost that total to 70.6, giving them a 9.0-point lead over the Dodgers.
Conversely, the trade puts the Cubs at the bottom of Box-Toppers rankings. As of July 3, the Cubs rank 20th among all teams with 45.9 Box-Toppers points. Their net loss of 10.7 points (nearly a quarter of their season total) gives them 35.2 for the season, below the current lowest-ranked team, the Arizona Diamondbacks (41.1 Box-Toppers points).
But of course, the Cubs are playing for the long term, hoping the prospects pan out to be stars, racking up huge Box-Toppers points in the coming seasons.