The Oakland Athletics, largely on the strength of their trade to acquire two starting pitchers from the Chicago Cubs, have risen to the top of Box-Toppers team rankings at the All-Star break.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Sunday, July 13. 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 July 3.713 |
Teams |
BTP |
BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Athletics | 79.0 | 19.1 | 2 |
| 2 | Dodgers | 69.7 | 8.1 | 1 |
| 3 | Angels | 69.5 | 11.0 | 5 |
| 4 | Giants | 64.3 | 5.7 | 4 |
| 5 | Blue Jays | 61.3 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 6 | Mariners | 60.7 | 3.0 | 6 |
| 7 | Reds | 60.6 | 9.5 | 12 |
| 8 | Brewers | 60.6 | 3.0 | 7 |
| 9 | Cardinals | 60.5 | 6.0 | 8 |
| 10 | Braves | 60.2 | 6.0 | 10 |
Athletics players have accumulated 79.0 Box-Toppers points, rising from second place at the time of the last team rankings report July 3 to regain the top spot. They pass the Los Angeles Dodgers, the leader at the July 3 report. The Dodgers have 69.7 Box-Toppers points, dipping to second place, still leading among all National League teams.
The Athletics jumped in total Box-Toppers points when on July 5, they acquired starting pitchers Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs. Hammel has 8.7 Box-Toppers points and Samardzija has 4.0. At the time, the trade gave the Athletics a net gain of 10.7 Box-Toppers points, boosting them to the top of team rankings and pushing the Cubs to the bottom—30th place.
The trade helped make the Athletics the hottest team since the last team rankings report on July 3. They picked up 19.1 Box-Toppers points over that period.
The Athletics are led by pitchers Scott Kazmir (13.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth place among all players) and newly-acquired Hammel (his 8.7 Box-Toppers points puts him at 11th place among AL pitchers, even though all his points were earned while pitching in the NL for the Cubs).
The Athletics also have baseball’s best winning percentage (.621). The Athletics previously led in Box-Toppers team rankings at the weekly June 19 report.
The Dodgers remain the top NL team for the second week with 69.7 Box-Toppers points. They fall from first to second place overall.
The Dodgers are led by starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (18.1 Box-Toppers points, overall player rankings leader) and Zack Greinke (10.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh place among NL pitchers).
The Dodgers have NL’s best winning percentage (.557).
The Cincinnati Reds rise into the top 10 at the All-Star break. They picked up a NL-high 9.5 Box-Toppers points since the last report July 3, giving them 60.6 for the season, rising from 12th to seventh in team rankings. The Detroit Tigers fell from the top 10 list—with 60.1 Box-Toppers points, they fell from ninth to 11th.
As previously mentioned, the Chicago Cubs dropped to the bottom of Box-Toppers team rankings, with a net loss of points in the trade with the Athletics. They lost 7.2 Box-Toppers points since the last report July 3, giving them 38.7 for the season. The previous report’s 30th-ranked team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, rose to 28th place, picking up 6.4 Box-Toppers points, giving them 47.5 for the season.
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.