Poll: What to make of another Sox season with playoff baseball?

The Red Sox playoff hopes, which had rested at 0.8% for the last week while the team ripped off 4-straight wins, were officially dashed with last night's 6-1 loss north of the border.

Coupled with wins by everyone they needed to lose and it meant the Red Sox were finally eliminated in Game No. 159.

For a team that was projected to win around 77 games and finish last place in the AL East for what would have been a third consecutive year, that can be viewed as a step in the right direction.

For a team that was 10 games over .500 at the All-Star break and a team that had they simply played .500 ball in the second half would currently own the AL's 2nd Wild Card, that should be viewed as a failure.

Which is where we stand with this somewhat enigmatic Sox squad. How exactly do you take stock of this season as a whole? There were certainly all kinds of signs of encouragement for the future.

Jarren Duran will end up receiving MVP votes for his campaign, while both Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu will factor into Rookie of the Year voting. Tanner Houck developed into a reliable rotation piece and Brayan Bello, for what was a mixed bag of his own, won 14 games.

Roman Anthony is the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball. Kristian Campbell became just the second Sea Dog to ever win Eastern League MVP. There are real impact pieces just under the Major League surface.

Yet, at the MLB level it's more of the same. A team that may yet finish with more losses than wins. While it appears we can now clearly see the direction the organization is heading in, it took another bridge year to get here.

With the season coming to a close on Sunday, what are your thoughts on the year that was for the 2024 Boston Red Sox?