The Los Angeles Dodgers rise to a commanding lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report on the strength of the players they acquired prior to Friday’s trade deadline.
Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers 2021 team rankings, through the trade deadline on Friday, July 30. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team accumulated this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams accumulated from July 23 to July 29. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of July 22. (Note: Team rankings do not include results from the games of Friday, July 30.)| Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Wk ago | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers | 91.1 | +20.1 | 2 |
| 2 | White Sox | 82.7 | +9.7 | 1 |
| 3 | Brewers | 80.4 | +9.5 | 4 |
| 4 | Red Sox | 79.3 | +9.7 | 5 |
| 5 | Padres | 77.6 | +8.5 | 6 |
| 6 | Mets | 76.5 | +14.4 | 11 |
| 7 | Astros | 76.5 | +8.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Braves | 76.4 | +15.5 | 12 |
| 9 | Phillies | 75.4 | +16.7 | 15 |
| 10 | Yankees | 74.1 | +9.5 | 10 |
| 11 | Giants | 71.7 | +5.5 | 8 |
| 12 | Rays | 71.4 | +0.0 | 11 |
| 13 | Athletics | 68.5 | +2.8 | 9 |
| 14 | Mariners | 68.0 | +9.0 | 14 |
| 15 | Blue Jays | 64.5 | +6.0 | 16 |
| 16 | Reds | 63.9 | +7.5 | 18 |
| 17 | Angels | 61.5 | +1.5 | 13 |
| 18 | Cardinals | 60.9 | +5.2 | 19 |
| 19 | Indians | 58.2 | +0.0 | 17 |
| 20 | Tigers | 56.3 | +3.2 | 21 |
| 21 | Rockies | 55.6 | +3.5 | 23 |
| 22 | Marlins | 47.0 | -5.1 | 22 |
| 23 | Twins | 44.3 | -4.7 | 24 |
| 24 | Royals | 43.6 | +0.2 | 26 |
| 25 | Orioles | 38.7 | +4.0 | 30 |
| 26 | Nationals | 35.7 | -17.7 | 20 |
| 27 | Pirates | 33.9 | -4.0 | 28 |
| 28 | Diamondbacks | 33.5 | -1.5 | 29 |
| 29 | Cubs | 32.0 | -15.4 | 25 |
| 30 | Rangers | 26.0 | -12.2 | 27 |
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox fall from first to second in team rankings but maintain their lead among American League teams.
The Dodgers were by far the hottest team of the week with a net gain of 20.1 Box-Toppers points in the past week, most of them coming from acquiring pitcher Max Scherzer and his 10.7 Box-Toppers points from the Washington Nationals.
The Dodgers rise from second overall to first place with players on its current roster having accumulated 91.1 Box-Toppers points this season, 8.4 more points than the White Sox’s 82.7.
Box-Toppers weekly team rankings reports normally are posted on Friday. But with this year’s baseball’s trade deadline falling on Friday, it made more sense to wait until the deadline passed and the smoke cleared to get a more accurate picture of the status of each team.
These results were compiled after Friday afternoon’s trade deadline to account for all the players that were moved but prior to Friday’s games. The general idea is that when a player moves to a new team, they take their season Box-Toppers point totals with them to their new team, adding to that club’s accumulated Box-Toppers point total for the season and subtracting the points from the club they left.
While the Dodgers lead Box-Toppers team rankings, they have baseball’s third-best winning percentage (.590, through Friday’s games), behind the San Francisco Giants (.621) and Houston Astros (.615). The Giants are 11th in Box-Toppers team rankings (71.7 Box-Toppers points) and the Astros are seventh (76.5).
The Dodgers lead National League teams ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Brewers, in third place overall with 80.4 Box-Toppers points. The Dodgers previously led Box-Toppers team rankings this season on April 15, April 22 and April 29.
The Dodgers are led by pitcher Clayton Kershaw with 11.4 Box-Toppers points, ninth overall and sixth among National League pitchers. Top batter is Max Muncy with 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 11th among NL batters. So far this season, 24 Dodgers players have earned Player of the Game honors.
The Dodgers had the biggest net gain among all teams in Box-Toppers points this week (+20.1) by picking up 4.4 points in three wins and by acquiring these players:
Scherzer, 10.7 points, ranked 11th overall and seventh among NL pitchers.
Pitcher Danny Duffy from the Royals, 4.0 points.
Shortstop Trea Turner from the Nationals, 1.0 point.
The White Sox fall from first to second place overall with 82.7 Box-Toppers points, leading AL teams for the eighth straight week and for 12 of the past 13 weeks.
The White Sox have the fourth-best winning percentage among AL teams (.587, through Friday’s games), behind the Houston Astros (.615), Boston Red Sox (.600) and Tampa Bay Rays (.596). The Astros are seventh in Box-Toppers team rankings (76.5 Box-Toppers points), the Red Sox are fourth (79.3) and the Rays are 12th (71.4).
The White Sox are led by pitcher Lance Lynn with 9.7 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers. White Sox’ top batter is Jose Abreu with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, third among AL batters. There are 25 White Sox players who have earned Player of the Game honors this season.
The White Sox had the fifth-best net gain in Box-Toppers points (+9.7) in the week leading up to the trade deadline, mainly by picking up these players, both from the Cubs:
Closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel (6.7 points, first among all closers).
Relief pitcher Ryan Tepera (2.0 points).
BIggest point gains by teams
Teams with the biggest gains in Box-Toppers points this week:
1. Dodgers +20.1, with 91.1 points overall, rising from second to first place overall.
2. Philadelphia Phillies +16.7, 75.4 points overall, rising from 15th to ninth place.
3. Atlanta Braves +15.5, 76.4 points overall, rising from 12th to eighth place.
4. New York Mets +14.4, 76.5 points overall, rising from 11th to sixth place.
5. White Sox +9.7, 82.7 points overall, falling from first to second place.
5. Boston Red Sox +9.7, 79.3 points overall, falling from fifth to fourth place.
The Phillies had the biggest rise up Box-Toppers team rankings this week, rising six spots from 15th to ninth place. Among the player acquisitions that powered their 16.7-point net gain were these two acquired from the Rangers:
Pitcher Kyle Gibson (6.7 points).
Closing pitcher Ian Kennedy (5.0 points).
The Braves, with the third-best net gain of 15.5 points, acquired:
Outfielder Adam Duvall (7.0 points) from the Marlins.
Designated hitter Jorge Soler (2.5 points) from the Royals.
Closer Richard Rodriguez (2.0 points) from the Pirates.
Outfielder Eddie Rosario (1.5 points) from the Indians.
Prior to last week, the Braves acquired Joc Pederson (5.0 points) from the Cubs and Stephen Vogt (1.5) from the Diamondbacks.
The Mets, with the fourth-best net gain of 14.4 points, acquired:
Pitcher Rich Hill (5.0 points) from the Rays.
Pitcher Trevor Williams (3.7) from the Cubs.
Shortstop Javier Baez (1.0) from the Cubs.
The Red Sox, with the fifth-best net gain of 9.7 points, acquired:
Leftfielder Kyle Schwarber (3.0 points) from the Nationals.
Relief pitcher Hansel Robles (2.0) from the Twins.
Biggest point losses by team
Teams with the biggest net loss in Box-Toppers points this week:
1. Washington Nationals -17.7, 35.7 points overall, falling from 20th to 26th place overall.
2. Chicago Cubs -15.4, 32.0 points overall, falling from 25th to 29th place overall.
3. Texas Rangers -12.2, 26.0 points overall, falling from 27th to 30th place overall.
Four other teams had a net loss in Box-Toppers points this week: the Miami Marlins (-5.1), Minnesota Twins (-4.7), Pittsburgh Pirates (-4.0) and Arizona Diamondbacks (-1.5).
The Nationals had the largest point decline of 17.7 points and also had the biggest decline in team rankings, falling six spots from 20th to 26th place. Trading Scherzer and his 10.7 points to the Dodgers was the main reason why. The Nationals also traded away:
Outfielder Kyle Schwarber (3.0 points) to the Red Sox.
Pitcher Jon Lester (2.0 points) to the Cardinals.
Closing pitcher Daniel Hudson (2.0) to the Padres.
Shortstop Trea Turner (1.0) to the Dodgers.
Second baseman Josh Harrison (1.0) to the Athletics.
The Cubs had the second-biggest net point loss this week of 15.4, trading away:
Closer Craig Kimbrel (6.7 points) to the White Sox.
Pitcher Trevor Williams (3.7) to the Mets.
Outfielder Jake Marisnick (2.5) to the Padres.
First baseman Anthony Rizzo (2.0) to the Yankees.
Relief pitcher Ryan Tepera (2.0) to the White sox.
Infielder Kris Bryant (1.5) to the Giants.
Shortstop Javier Baez (1.0) to the Mets.
The Rangers had the third-biggest net point loss this week of 12.2, trading away:
Pitcher Kyle Gibson (6.7 points) to the Phillies.
Closing pitcher Ian Kennedy (5.0) to the Phillies.
Outfielder Joey Gallo (2.5) to the Yankees.
The Rangers fall from 27th place last week to 30th and last place this week with their 26.0 points. Interestingly, the Dodgers gained 20.1 points in just the past week, which nearly matches the Rangers’ current season total. Last week’s lowest-ranked team, the Baltimore Orioles, rise to 25th place with 38.7 points, picking up 4.0 points in the past week.
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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