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.