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Red Sox: Potential team Most Valuable Players for 2017

By Rick McNair

Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts (50) reacts after scoring a run in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts (50) reacts after scoring a run in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez (13) connects for a RBI single in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez (13) connects for a RBI single in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /

Veteran presence

If Hanley Ramirez wins it will be based solely on his bat and not his glove. Ramirez was no sieve at first base, but visions of former Red Sox farm hand Anthony Rizzo certainly did not surface. The term to best describe HanRam is adequate with the glove, but with the bat, it is another story.

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Ramirez had not hit like that in years and it was needed and will be needed even more in 2017 with the departure of Ortiz. The power was there with 30 home runs and a career-best 111 RBI all tied in a nice .286 bow. To win the team MVP Ramirez will have to top those numbers and probably by a good margin.

Dustin Pedroia is a former league MVP who was both healthy and productive in 2016. The hitting was more of a Laser Show that had been missing. The glove work returned and so did the number of games played. At 33-years old Pedroia remains a dynamo who has to be pried out of the lineup.

What may give Pedroia a few extra points on the team MVP chart is leadership. With Ortiz gone that is now the domain of Pedroia as the Red Sox senior citizen.

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