Poll: How relevant are the Red Sox right now?

With last night's 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park, the Red Sox wrapped up the first quarter of the 2024 MLB regular season.

Through 41 games, they sit 21-20. They're on pace for 82.9756 wins and have not strayed more than four games over .500, but have also not been below .500 since the third day of the season when they fell to 1-2.

All told, they're a pretty mediocre bunch, just like we expected. While there have certainly been entertaining bits through the first 7 1/2 weeks to the season, like surprising pitching performances and Tyler O'Neill's slugging prowess, the team still sits much closer to last place in the East (+2 games in front of Toronto) then they are to the summit (5.5 games behind Baltimore and New York).

With the intensity of the Bruins and Celtics playoff runs and all the hype leading into the NFL Draft about the Patriots at No. 3, the Red Sox are a distant fourth on the city's sports totem pole.

While the Bruins' run may come to an end tonight in Florida, the Celtics still figure to factor into our viewing habits for many weeks.

If asked on Opening Day, I'm sure most Sox fans would have signed up for 21 wins through the first 41 games considering what the expected alternative was.

But now that we're here, is a 21-20 baseball team worth turning to after the excitement of the playoffs? Or, like Sox' ownership, are you punting on this Red Sox season?