Jacoby Ellsbury
The most recent Red Sox player to finish second in MVP voting was Jacoby Ellsbury in 2011, who finished behind Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Apparently writers had gotten over their concerns with voting for pitchers by that point.
The star center fielder showed uncharacteristic power that season, blasting 32 home runs – which to this day is double what he’s produced in any other season. Ellsbury hit .321/.376/.552, all of which were career-highs, but he didn’t lead the league in any major category beyond plate appearances and total bases. He finished second in the league with an 8.0 WAR in a relatively weak crop of hitters that season, which helped open the door for Verlander to steal the award as a pitcher.
Three years later Ellsbury would parlay that mammoth season into a lucrative contract with the New York Yankees, one they would soon regret after realizing 2011 was a clear outlier.
He did have another strong season in his final year in Boston in 2013, serving as a key cog in another championship season, but finished only 15th on the ballot that year and hasn’t received any votes for the award since.