28-year old lefty swinging CF Jacoby Ellsbury finished 2nd in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Ellsbury played in 158 games for the Red Sox in 2011 and he was 212 of 660 (.321 avg, .928 OPS) with 119 runs scored, 32 homers, 105 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. He has now played in 507 games in his first five years with the Red Sox and he is 611 of 2,032 (.301 avg, .807 OPS) with 341 runs scored, 52 homers, 325 RBIs and 175 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if the power was a mirage in 2011, but no one questions his ability as he easily could have been the MVP this year.

29-year old lefty swinging 1B Adrian Gonzalez finished 7th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Gonzalez played in 159 games in his first year with the Red Sox and he was 213 of 630 (.338 avg, .957 OPS) with 108 runs scored, 27 homers, 117 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 1,017 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 1,113 of 3,797 (.293 avg, .889 OPS) with 596 runs scored, 195 homers, 642 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gonzalez was everything the Red Sox expected and more in 2011.

28-year old righty swinging 2B Dustin Pedroia finished 9th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Pedroia played in 159 games for the Red Sox last year and he was 195 of 635 (.307 avg, .861 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 21 homers, 91 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. He has now played in 715 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 862 of 2,825 (.305 avg, .837 OPS) with 479 runs scored, 75 homers, 344 RBIs and 82 stolen bases. 2011 was a great comeback year for Pedroia as he missed a lot of 2010 due to a bum foot.

31-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Beckett finished 9th in the voting for the A.L. Cy Young Award. Beckett pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He has now pitched in 279 games (276 starts) in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 125-81 with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Beckett has been wildly inconsistent with the Red Sox, but when he’s good….he’s really good.

28-year old lefty swinging CF Jacoby Ellsbury had a injury ravaged year in 2010. He only played in 18 games for the Red Sox in 2010 and he was 15 for 78 (.192 avg, .485 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. But, in 2011, Ellsbury returned with a vengeance for the Red Sox. He played in 158 games for the Red Sox in 2011 and he was 212 for 660 (.321 avg, .928 OPS) with 119 runs scored, 32 homers, 105 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. Ellsbury also cranked 46 doubles and 5 triples in 2011 for the Red Sox. He is likely to have a legit shot at winning the MVP Award in the A.L., but for now he will accept being named the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2011.