Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts.jpg

LEFT: Fans congratulate Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts after he scored against the Baltimore Orioles on June 25, 2015; (AP Photo/Elise Amendola); RIGHT: Xander Bogaerts laughs with a teammate before a game against the Yankees on Sept. 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson

ESPN.com national baseball writer Buster Olney tweeted out an interesting Boston Red Sox-related thought Jan. 13 that received 267 retweets and 320 likes:

"This is a good sleeper MVP candidate behind the usual suspects of Trout, Cabrera, Donaldson: Mookie Betts, who had a .923 OPS after June 10."

I'm going to throw another name out there as well: Both Betts and Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts are sleeper picks to win the 2016 American League MVP.

The two 23-year-olds are just six days apart in age (Bogaerts is older) and they posted the best WARs (wins above replacements) on the 2015 Boston Red Sox. Betts led the team with a 4.8 WAR, followed by Bogaerts (4.3).

"They are probably two of the more exciting players not just on our roster but in the game," manager John Farrell said recently. "You look and see what they've done in their first full seasons. And in Xander's case, it's great to see a young player learn from his challenges of his previous year, apply some things a little bit differently and reap the rewards of that.

"We're talking about two, young middle of the diamond players that are top of the order hitters," Farrell added. "That's a unique set of talents. And you look back on 2015, our young players are the guys that carried this team to the extent that they did. And we're going to continue to build upon it."

Betts, a sleeper pick for the 2016 AL MVP

As Olney mentioned, Betts posted a .923 OPS after June 10. He certainly improved as the season progressed with a .311/.359/.500/.859 slash line during his final 59 games after he slashed .277/.328/.464/.792 in his first 86 games.

Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts, left, high fives teammate Xander Bogaerts after Betts hit a home run Sept. 12, 2015 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

And he has exceptional pop for a 5-foot-9, 180-pounder.

His 68 extra-base hits (18 homers, 42 doubles, eight triples) marked the most by a Red Sox player age 23 or younger since Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr in 1940.

He arguably was the major's best leadoff hitter, too. He led all major league leadoff men with 69 RBIs and 60 extra-base hits and he started just 117 games at the top spot in the batting order.

He provides a combination of both pop and speed, and has the ability to reach base at a high rate. He became the first AL player in an age 22 or young season to hit 42 doubles and 18 homers and also steal 21 bases.

He was the most difficult player to double up in 2015 and boasted the AL's seventh-highest contact rate (85 percent). His 36-game on-base streak during the second half shows he has the ability to be substantially increase his 2015 on-base percentage of .341 during the 2016 season.

Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, when serving as acting manager back last September, said he thought Betts' on-base percentage was a little low for where it will end up being as he matures and develops more as a hitter. He also projected Betts eventually to hit consistently for a high .800 to low-.900 OPS.

"I don't think he's going to be a 30-home run hitter every year, but I wouldn't be surprised if he hit 30 one year," Lovullo said back then. "I think he could do it."

Betts has only improved in his year and a half in the major leagues. If he takes another step forward this season, he can be the table setter of a batting order that led the American League in batting average (.275) and hits (709) during the second half of 2015 and ranked third in extra-base hits (248).

This batting order might look a little different from past Red Sox offenses. Boston will feature more speed at the top with Betts leading off, Dustin Pedroia in the two hole and Bogaerts batting third. Both Pedroia and Bogaerts said they plan to steal more bases in 2016.

And if Rusney Castillo and Jackie Bradley Jr. can produce some at the bottom of the batting order, Betts has proved he can provide a high RBI total.

And don't forget he's a strong defender as well. He led all Red Sox outfielders with 10 assists in 2015.

Bogaerts, a sleeper pick for 2016 AL MVP

Betts hit .315 in his final 108 games of 2015 -- second best in the AL behind only Bogaerts who hit .335.

Bogaerts finished behind Betts in WAR but he arguably was more valuable to the 2015 team as a run-producer.

The shortstop hit .386/.442/.586/1.027 in 77 plate appearances with two outs and runners in scoring position. He batted .359/.404/.467/.871 in 101 plate appearances in late-and-close situations.

He also led the majors with 10 hits, including six extra-base hits, and 26 RBIs in 27 plate appearances with the bases loaded (.385 batting average).

He finished second for the AL batting title (.320) and his 196 hits ranked second most in the AL behind Houston second baseman Jose Altuve's 200.

The most impressive stat of all: Bogaerts batted a major league-best .341 in 80 games (minimum 150 plate appearances) as the No. 3 hitter in the lineup. He knocked in 48 runs in those 80 games.

Xander Bogaerts batted .320/.355/.421/.776 with seven homers and 81 RBIs in 2015 for the Boston Red Sox. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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He certainly thrived hitting third and he has the chance to be the centerpiece of one of the more dangerous AL batting orders if this lineup duplicates its production from the second half of last season (see above).

Just think about how many runs Bogaerts will have the chance to knock in batting third if Pedroia can stay healthy in the two hole.

With Betts and Pedroia ahead of Bogaerts and David Ortiz hitting cleanup, Bogaerts has the chance to be near the top of the majors in RBIs.

The only area of his game that was lacking last year was his home run power. He hit only seven long balls. But Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski isn't concerned about Bogaerts' home run power.

"I think it's more important that he's driving the ball and driving in runs," Dombrowski said recently.

Bogaerts shortened his swing and used the opposite field more last season. The increased plate coverage allowed him to increase his batting average 80 points from 2014.

Now that he has fixed those holes, he might display some more power here in 2016. He said he thinks he has the potential to eventually produce 20-25 power.

But the power isn't as important to his potential MVP candidacy if he's able to continue to knock in runs, hit with runners in scoring position and play strong defense. He had the second-best fielding percentage in 2015 among AL shortstops (.984) behind only Baltimore's J.J. Hardy (.993).