Part A.
Ah, I see what you mean now. You mean the Status Bar at the bottom of the MC window. I was always looking at the information in the Action Window and at the top of the Synchronisation Details tab.
The information shown in the Status Bar at the bottom of the MC Window when the Synchronisation tab is displayed includes all the files in the synchronisation window, which is all the files involved in the next synchronisation event.
First, it will help if I provide a little more detailed definition of the terms used.
On Device = These files are on the Device and will remain there after the next synchronisation process.
Delete On Sync = These files are on the Device and will be removed during the next synchronisation process.
In Queue = These files are not yet on the Device, but will be transferred to the Device during the next synchronisation process.
So, after selecting more files to synchronise;
Before the next synchronisation the files on the Device include the "On Device" plus the "Delete On Sync" files.
After the next synchronisation the files on the Device include the "On Device" plus the "In Queue" files.
So, before a synchronisation what is shown in the Status Bar actually includes;
"On Device" plus "Delete On Sync" plus "In Queue" files.
Depending on your setup, after a synchronisation what is shown in the Status Bar actually includes either;
"On Device" files only, or
"On Device" plus "Delete On Sync" files. ( With certain setups or method of use, files that are transferred can immediately be marked as "Delete On Sync". Have a read of this thread to see what I mean:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=101017.0 )
This is consistent with all other Status Bar displays for lists in MC, so I don't think that is going to change. What I suggest you do is ignore it, as it has virtually no bearing on the synchronisation. Look at the Next Transfer Summary information, and the Free Space and Transfer Size information, as shown in the attached image.
Part B.
You are correct the Status column is a calculated value so you can't set up a custom sorting rule for it. Well, possibly you could, if the developers shared how the Status field is calculated. I have no idea on that topic.
As it is so easy to click the Status column to sort all the different types together, I doubt that the developers will be changing the default. But they may read this and offer a solution for you.