Box-Toppers top shortstops by time frame (after 2019 season)

Here are the top shortstops in Box-Toppers points (BTP) over the past season (2019), the past two seasons (2018-19), the past six seasons (2014-19) and “all-time”—the past 25 seasons (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began). For the most recent seasons, the top five shortstops in each league are shown. For the “all-time” rankings, the top five overall shortstops (including retired players) are shown at left and the top five active shortstops in career Box-Toppers points are shown at right. Some players played more than one position, but even if their primary position was not shortstop, they are listed here.

American League National League
’19 Player Pos Team BTP Player Pos Team BTP
1 Torres, Gleyber 3972 ss 2b nyy al 12.0 Story, Trevor 3607 ss col nl 7.0
2 Semien, Marcus 3302 ss oak al 8.7 Ahmed, Nick 3520 ss ari nl 6.2
3 Bogaerts, Xander 3383 ss bos al 8.2 Newman, Kevin 4234 ss pit nl 6.2
4 Anderson, Tim 3659 ss chi al 5.0 DeJong, Paul 3827 ss stl nl 5.0
5 Mondesi, Adalberto 3750 ss kc al 4.5 Arcia, Orlando 3717 ss mil nl 4.7
American League National League
’18-’19 Player Pos Team BTP Player Pos Team BTP
1 Bogaerts, Xander 3383 ss bos al 13.7 Baez, Javier 3395 ss chi nl 14.0
2 Torres, Gleyber 3972 ss 2b nyy al 13.5 Story, Trevor 3607 ss col nl 13.0
3 Semien, Marcus 3302 ss oak al 11.2 Ahmed, Nick 3520 ss ari nl 11.7
4 Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss cle al 10.6 Crawford, Brandon 2878 ss sf nl 11.5
5 Anderson, Tim 3659 ss chi al 9.5 DeJong, Paul 3827 ss stl nl 11.0
American League National League
’14-’19 Player Pos Team BTP Player Pos Team BTP
1 Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 26.4 Machado, Manny 3087 ss sd nl 33.9
2 Bogaerts, Xander 3383 ss bos al 25.7 Baez, Javier 3395 ss chi nl 23.7
3 Semien, Marcus 3302 ss oak al 22.2 Story, Trevor 3607 ss col nl 22.0
4 Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss tex al 22.2 Crawford, Brandon 2878 ss sf nl 21.7
5 Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss cle al 22.1 Iglesias, Jose 3532 ss cin nl 17.0
All players (including retired) All active players
’95-’19 Player Pos Team BTP Player Pos Team BTP
1 Tejada, Miguel ss Retired 102.3 Machado, Manny 3087 ss sd nl 36.4
2 Jeter, derek ss Retired 76.4 Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss tex al 32.7
3 Garciaparra, Nomar ss Retired 74.9 Crawford, Brandon 2878 ss sf nl 29.7
4 Young, Michael 1498 ss Retired 73.1 Escobar, Alcides 2663 3b ss Released 28.5
5 Renteria, Edgar ss Retired 67.0 Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 26.4
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Active players are shown on the team with whom they finished the 2019 season.

Miguel Tejada leads shortstops in Box-Toppers points since 1995, though 2nd-ranked Derek Jeter is widely seen as superior

Box-Toppers High SS.png

Miguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995.

Tejada, who played from 1997 to 2013 primarily for the Athletics and Orioles, but also for the Astros, Giants, Padres and Royals, earned 102.3 career Box-Toppers points.

That is 25.9 Box-Toppers points ahead of the second-place shortstop in career Box-Toppers points, Derek Jeter (76.4), who played for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014.

The chart above shows the top five shortstops over several time frames. For the past season (2019), past two seasons (2018-19) and past six seasons (2014-19) the top five shortstops in each league are shown. The top five overall shortstops since 1995 (including those who have retired) are shown at the bottom left in the chart. The top five active shortstops in career Box-Toppers points are shown at the bottom right.

The top five shortstops leading career Box-Toppers points (Tejada, Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Michael Young and Edgar Renteria) all began playing in 1995 or after, so their entire careers were tracked by Box-Toppers. In addition, all five of those players are now retired—the active shortstop with the most career Box-Toppers points, Manny Machado of the Padres (36.4 points), ranks 16th among shortstops in Box-Toppers points since 1995.

While Jeter is widely considered to be the superior shortstop during the era in which he played (and a first-ballot Hall of Famer this year), his Box-Toppers point total is lower—and considerably lower—than Tejada’s for a couple of reasons. First, Jeter tended to hit for less power than Tejada, hitting home runs and runs batted in less often. Tejada hit 100 or more RBIs in six seasons (including leading the American League in RBIs in 2004 with 150), while Jeter hit 100 or more just once (in 1999, he hit 102). Tejada hit 30 or more home runs in four seasons; Jeter never hit more than 24 in a season.

Jeter also played for better teams (playing in 16 postseasons and winning five World Series titles) with high quality players and had to compete with those teammates for Player of the Game honors. Among players who were Jeter’s teammates from 1996 to 2012 (when they made the postseason every year except 2008) and who rank higher than Jeter in career Box-Toppers points are:

Jeter may have had far more Box-Toppers points if he didn’t have to compete against these teammates for Player of the Game honors. Considering the talent on his team, it’s remarkable Jeter was able to earn as many Box-Toppers points as he did.

Tejada, by contrast, only played in the postseason four times with the Athletics from 2000 to 2003, losing each time in the AL Division Series, twice to Jeter’s Yankees and had fewer quality teammates to compete against to earn Player of the Game honors. Only three of his teammates from any of those seasons had more career Box-Toppers points than Tejada:

  • Tim Hudson, 157.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th.

  • Jason Giambi, 133.4 points, ranked 32nd (who was later a teammate of Jeter’s).

  • Barry Zito, 117.4 points, ranked 47th.

One other factor in Jeter’s favor and to Tejada’s detriment is that Tejada was associated with baseball’s performance enhancing drug scandal. Several times through his career he was linked to steroid use, including pleading guilty in 2009 of lying to Congress in 2005 about performance enhancing drug usage. In 2013, he was suspended 105 games for testing positive for amphetamines.

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Gleyber Torres of the Yankees led all shortstops over the past season (12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019). He ranks second among American League shortstops over the past two seasons (13.5 in 2018 and 2019).

Javier Baez of the Cubs led all shortstops over the past two seasons (14.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018 and 2019). He ranks second among National League shortstops over the past six seasons (23.7 from 2014-19).

Machado, in addition to leading active shortstops in career Box-Toppers points (36.4), also led shortstops over the past six seasons (33.9 from 2014-2019).

There are four players who each appear in three different top five shortstop charts shown above:

  • Marcus Semien of the Athletics ranked second among AL shortstops in 2019 (8.7), third among AL shortstops from 2018-19 (11.2) and third among AL shortstops from 2014-19 (22.2).

  • Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox ranked third among AL shortstops in 2019 (8.2), first among AL shortstops from 2018-19 (13.7) and second among AL shortstops from 2014-19 (25.7).

  • Trevor Story of the Rockies ranked first among NL shortstops in 2019 (7.0), second among NL shortstops from 2018-19 (13.0) and third among NL shortstops from 2014-19 (22.0).

  • Brandon Crawford of the Giants ranked fourth among NL shortstops from 2018-19 (11.5), fourth among NL shortstops from 2014-19 (21.7) and third among active shortstops in career points (29.7).

One other highlight: Carlos Correa of the Astros led AL shortstops from 2014-19 with 26.4 Box-Toppers points. He also ranks fifth among active shortstops with the same 26.4 point total.

None of the five active shortstops with the most career Box-Toppers points fared particularly well in 2019—the five earned a combined 6.5 points during the season. Overall leader Machado earned no points despite playing in 156 games in his first season with the Padres after earning points in each of his first seven seasons in the Majors (including 5.7 in 2018 with the Orioles and Dodgers).

Alcides Escobar (ranked fourth among active shortstops with 28.5 career points) also earned no points in 2019 but did not play in the Majors during the season. Escobar played for the White Sox’ Triple-A minor league affiliate but was released by the team in August.

Elvis Andrus of the Rangers, second among active shortstops with 32.7 career Box-Toppers points, earned 1.0 point in 2019.

Crawford, ranked third among active shortstops with 29.7 career points, earned 4.0 points in 2019.

Correa, ranked fifth among active shortstops with 26.4 career points, earned 1.5 points in 2019.

However, the sixth-ranked active shortstop in career points, Bogaerts, earned 8.2 Box-Toppers points in 2019. Bogaerts’ 25.7 career points is 0.7 points behind fifth-ranked Correa.

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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Related:

Top 100 players “all-time” (since 1995), past six seasons (2014-2019), past two seasons (2017-19) and past season (2019).

Top 10 overall players, plus top 10 batters and pitchers “all-time” (since 1995).

Top 10 overall players, plus top 10 batters and pitchers by league past six seasons (2014-2019), past two seasons (2018-19) and past season (2019).

Box-Toppers top shortstops by time frame (after 2017): Miguel Tejada leads shortstops in Box-Toppers points since 1995, though 2nd-ranked Derek Jeter is widely seen as superior