Red Sox and Dustin Pedroia are quietly negotiating a lengthy contract extension to avoid a potential ugly free agency impasse in the future.

He has been named American League MVP by the internet baseball community (a small, but telling honor), reeled in the Gold Glove for American League second basemen, Thursday, and is engaged with the Red Sox in negotiating a contract that would eliminate financial anxieties for half a decade. All of this while sitting on the cusp of taking home Major League Baseball’s AL MVP. You would think, but …