Two players who each finished second among batters in their league in Box-Toppers rankings this season won baseball’s 2016 Most Valuable Player Awards.
Mike Trout of the Angels won the American League award and Kris Bryant of the Cubs won the National League award, though both finished just behind their league’s leading batter in Box-Toppers points—Manny Machado of the Orioles in the AL and Nolan Arenado of the Rockies in the NL. (See charts below for complete MVP voting results and Box-Toppers rankings.) The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Trout received 19 of the 30 first-place votes en route to winning AL MVP. Trout ranked second among AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points. Machado, who led AL batters in Box-Toppers points, had 12.7. Machado finished fifth in AL MVP voting. Trout also won the AL MVP Award in 2014. That year, Trout had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL batters.
Bryant received 29 of the 30 first-place votes to win NL MVP. Bryant ranked second among NL batters with 10.5 Box-Toppers points. Arenado, who led NL batters in Box-Toppers points, had 10.7. Arenado finished fifth in NL MVP voting. Bryant was NL Rookie of the Year in 2015.
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL batter who did not receive MVP votes is Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, who had 11.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked fifth among AL batters. Box-Toppers’ top-ranked NL batter who did not receive MVP votes is Padres first baseman Wil Myers, who had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters.
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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American League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Mike Trout of the Angels was voted AL Most Valuable PLayer. Below are the AL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2016 and their rank among AL batters (except in the case of pitchers, denoted with †, in which case their rank among AL pitcher is shown).| 1st-10th place votes (1-10) | ||||||||||||||||
| AL player | Team | Pos | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Points | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Mike Trout | Angels | cf | 19 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 356 | 12.5 | 2 | |||||
| 2 | Mookie Betts | Red Sox | rf | 9 | 17 | 4 | 311 | 6.2 | 37 | |||||||
| 3 | Jose Altuve | Astros | 2b | 2 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 227 | 12.5 | 3 | ||||||
| 4 | Josh Donaldson | Blue Jays | 3b | 2 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 200 | 9.7 | 7 | |||
| 5 | Manny Machado | Orioles | 3b ss | 5 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 150 | 12.7 | 1 | |||
| 6 | David Ortiz | Red Sox | dh | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 147 | 8.0 | 18 | |
| 7 | Adrian Beltre | Rangers | 3b | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 135 | 9.5 | 8 | |
| 8 | Robinson Cano | Mariners | 2b | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 79 | 8.0 | 17 | |||
| 9 | Francisco Lindor | Indians | ss | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 56 | 7.0 | 24 | |||||
| 10 | Miguel Cabrera | Tigers | 1b | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 56 | 12.0 | 4 | |||||
| 11 | Zach Britton | Orioles | pi cp | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 5.0 | 59† | |||||||
| 12 | Kyle Seager | Mariners | 3b | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9.5 | 9 | ||||||||
| 13 | Brian Dozier | Twins | 2b dh | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 2.0 | 96 | |||||||
| 14 | Edwin Encarnacion | Blue Jays | dh 1b | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8.0 | 15 | |||||||
| 15 | Nelson Cruz | Mariners | dh | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6.5 | 33 | ||||||||
| 16 | Chris Sale | White Sox | pi sp | 1 | 3 | 13.4 | 6† | |||||||||
| 17 | Jose Ramirez | Indians | 3b | 1 | 2 | 1.5 | 88 | |||||||||
| 17 | Justin Verlander | Tigers | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 14.7 | 4† | |||||||||
| 19 | Adam Eaton | White Sox | rf cf | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 64 | |||||||||
| 19 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 21.2 | 1† | |||||||||
| 19 | Evan Longoria | Rays | 3b | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | 32 | |||||||||
† When an AL pitcher received MVP votes, their Box-Toppers ranking is shown among AL pitchers.
National League Most Valuable Player Award voting
Kris Bryant of the Cubs was voted NL Most Valuable PLayer. Below are the NL players in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through 10th-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers points (BTP) for 2016 and their rank among NL batters (except in the case of pitchers, denoted with †, in which case their rank among NL pitcher is shown).| 1st-10th place votes (1-10) | ||||||||||||||||
| NL player | Team | Pos | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | BTP | Rank | |
| 1 | Kris Bryant | Cubs | lf 3b | 29 | 1 | 415 | 10.5 | 2 | ||||||||
| 2 | Daniel Murphy | Nationals | 2b | 1 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 245 | 7.5 | 15 | ||||
| 3 | Corey Seager | Dodgers | ss | 11 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 240 | 4.0 | 53 | ||||||
| 4 | Anthony Rizzo | Cubs | 1b | 3 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 202 | 3.0 | 71 | ||||
| 5 | Nolan Arenado | Rockies | 3b | 3 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 199 | 10.7 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | Freddie Freeman | Braves | 1b | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 129 | 7.5 | 14 | ||
| 7 | Joey Votto | Reds | 1b | 1 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 100 | 10.5 | 4 | ||||
| 8 | Yoenis Cespedes | Mets | cf lf | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 8.0 | 10 | |||||
| 9 | Justin Turner | Dodgers | 3b 2b | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 2.5 | 84 | ||||
| 10 | Max Scherzer | Nationals | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 39 | 25.7 | 1† | |||||
| 11 | Paul Goldschmidt | Dbacks | 1b | 2 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 4.5 | 42 | |||||||
| 12 | Brandon Crawford | Giants | ss | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 2.0 | 99 | |||||
| 13 | Jean Segura | Dbacks | 2b | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 4.5 | 46 | |||||||
| 14 | Buster Posey | Giants | ca 1b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3.5 | 62 | |||||||
| 15 | DJ LeMahieu | Rockies | 2b | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8.0 | 11 | ||||||||
| 16 | Madison Bumgarner | Giants | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13.0 | 12† | ||||||||
| 17 | Jeurys Familia | Mets | pi cp | 2 | 6 | 8.0 | 29† | |||||||||
| 17 | Wilson Ramos | Nationals | ca | 2 | 6 | 1.5 | 123 | |||||||||
| 19 | Addison Russell | Cubs | ss | 1 | 5 | 3.5 | 67 | |||||||||
| 20 | Noah Syndergaard | Mets | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 5 | 16.7 | 4† | ||||||||
| 21 | Christian Yelich | Marlins | lf cf | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5.5 | 30 | ||||||||
| 22 | Yasmani Grandal | Dodgers | ca | 1 | 4 | 7.2 | 16 | |||||||||
| 23 | Kyle Hendricks | Cubs | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 13.4 | 10† | |||||||||
| 24 | Ryan Braun | Brewers | lf | 2 | 2 | 10.5 | 3 | |||||||||
| 24 | Yadier Molina | Cardinals | ca ph | 2 | 2 | 4.0 | 55 | |||||||||
| 26 | Charlie Blackmon | Rockies | cf | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 52 | |||||||||
| 26 | Johnny Cueto | Giants | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 16.4 | 5† | |||||||||
† When an NL pitcher received MVP votes, their Box-Toppers ranking is shown among NL pitchers.