The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings for the fourth week.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox maintain their lead among American League teams and the San Diego Padres are the week’s hottest team.
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Sixteen teams will make the postseason in 2020, rather than 10 under the previous plan. Eight qualifying teams in each league will be seeded from 1-8 and will faceoff in a best-of-three game Wild Card series played entirely at the home of the higher seed. Winners of the Wild Card will face off in the Division Series and the playoffs will proceed in a similar format to recent years.
Box-Toppers projects 2020 postseason as it expands to 16 teams
One more revision for Box-Toppers postseason predictions now that the playoff format has expanded from 10 to 16 teams. While it provides six more postseason, it doesn’t change our pick of the Yankees over the Nationals in the World Series.
Read MoreWho led in Box-Toppers points on each team in 2019? A look at each club’s top pitcher & batter
Pitchers led their team’s players in Box-Toppers points on 25 of 30 teams in 2019. Batters led all team’s players on the other five. Chart shows the players who led his team’s pitchers and batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019.
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Yankees top Box-Toppers 2020 preseason team rankings; champion Nationals rank 2nd
The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2020 preseason rankings, rising from fifth place at the end of the 2019 season.
The 2019 World Series-champion Washington Nationals, ranked second at the end of 2019, maintain second place in the 2020 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Houston Astros—2019’s top-ranked team and American League champion—had the biggest decline.
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Los Angeles Dodgers maintain slim edge in Box-Toppers team rankings
The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the fourth week.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros regain the lead among American League teams and the Oakland Athletics are the week’s hottest team since the All-Star break.
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Los Angeles Dodgers maintain lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for third week
The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the third week.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros regain the lead among American League teams and the Washington Nationals are the week’s hottest team going into the All-Star break.
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Box-Toppers picks Yankees over Cubs in 2019 World Series
Box-Toppers picks the New York Yankees to beat the Chicago Cubs in the 2019 World Series.
In addition, Box-Toppers projects the Yankees will win 111 games in 2019, one of four teams projected to win 100 or more games this season. All 2018 American League playoff teams are projected to return to the postseason, while three different teams are forecast for the National League postseason—the Nationals, Phillies and Mets.
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Yankees top Box-Toppers 2019 preseason team rankings; champion Red Sox fall to 2nd
The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2019 preseason rankings, rising from second place at the end of the 2018 season.
The 2018 World Series-champion Boston Red Sox fall from first at the end of last season to second place in the 2019 preseason rankings.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Arizona Diamondbacks had the biggest decline.
Read MoreBox-Toppers 2018 year-end All-Star teams
The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2018 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Rays pitcher Blake Snell.
The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to the batters—eight in the NL and nine (including the designated hitter) in the AL—are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.
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Red Sox maintain Box-Toppers team rankings lead; Angels are week's hottest team
The Boston Red Sox maintain their lead in Box-Toppers team rankings for the seventh straight week.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers maintain their lead among National League teams and the Los Angeles Angels are the hottest team of the past week.
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Boston Red Sox rise to lead Box-Toppers team rankings, boosted by Kinsler trade
The Boston Red Sox rise to lead Box-Toppers team rankings after acquiring Ian Kinsler from the Angels and winning five of six games they played this week.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers rise to lead National League teams after acquiring second baseman Brian Dozier from the Twins and pitcher John Axford from the Blue Jays.
Read MoreTwins’ Kyle Gibson tops players for Thursday, July 12; Pujols earns Box-Toppers points in 18th straight season
Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 consecutive seasons, tied with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia for the longest active season streak; it is tied for the third-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
In addition Thursday, Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked players for 2018 started Thursday but neither earned Player of the Game honors in their teams’ wins. Neither top-ranked Luis Severino of the Yankees nor second-ranked Max Scherzer of the Nationals were top players in their games.
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Houston Astros maintain Box-Toppers team rankings lead for third straight week
The Houston Astros maintain top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings for the third straight week.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks are the week’s hottest team and pass the Washington Nationals as the top-ranked National League team.
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Houston Astros rise past Yankees to claim top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings
The Houston Astros regain top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings, passing the New York Yankees, the top team last week.
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals maintain their lead among National League teams and the Arizona Diamondbacks are the week’s hottest team.
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Red Sox, week’s hottest team, rise to top Box-Toppers weekly team rankings
The Boston Red Sox, the past week’s hottest team, rise to lead Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks rise to lead National League teams.
Read MoreLos Angeles Angels top first Box-Toppers team rankings report of 2018
The Los Angeles Angels lead Box-Toppers’ first team rankings report of 2018.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets are the top-ranked National League team and the Cleveland Indians are the hottest team of the past week.
Read MoreTwins' Jose Berrios tops players for Sunday, April 1; Nationals' Gonzalez tops NL players
Twins pitcher Jose Berrios is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Berrios pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out six and allowing one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Orioles.
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Box-Toppers picks Indians over Nationals in 2018 World Series
Box-Toppers picks the Cleveland Indians to beat the Washington Nationals in the 2018 World Series.
Box-Toppers projects the Indians to defeat the Red Sox in the AL Championship Series and the Nationals to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
Read MoreBox-Toppers 2012-17 All-Star teams
The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2012-17 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes 12 of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are 11 players who are on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams and 10 who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2017, for 2016-17 and for 2012-17.Leading the 2012-17 All-Stars is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons with 147.2.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time' after the 2017 season
Randy Johnson leads Box-Toppers "all-time" career top 100 list, since record-keeping began in 1995. Clayton Kershaw, ranked third overall, leads all active players. And Box-Toppers 2017 Player of the Year Chris Sale makes the biggest jump up the top 100 chart.
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