There's very little left to decide at this point, with three weeks remaining in the season.
We know the Red Sox are not going to qualify for the playoffs.
There's a pretty good chance that they're about to finish in last place in the American League East, too.
There's little left to play for, though, one supposes a winning record might be on goal, though, that, too must be considered something of a longshot now. With 20 games left, the Sox need to win 13 of them to get to 82 wins.
Tuesday night, the start of the third-to-last homestand of the season, brought with it yet another frustrating defeat -- 7-6 to the Yankees in 10 innings. The visitors never led until the top of the 10th inning, but they led when the final out was made and that was that.
There were some positives along the way, including a mammoth opposite-field two-run homer by Triston Casas in the third inning off New York starter Gerrit Cole. The homer showcased Casas' power and approach and left you thinking that, whatever other struggles he's had in his first 10 days in the major leagues, Casas is legit and a big part of the Red Sox' future. He even swiped a base and played his usual confident game at first.
But none of it mattered in the end. Having already used up their two more trustworthy relievers -- John Schreiber and Garrett Whitlock -- the Sox opted for veteran Jeurys Familia in the 10th inning. It proved their undoing.
With a baserunner already stationed at second, Familia proceeded to fill them entirely, with another walk, and after a double play gave him a chance to get within an out of escaping the inning, walked two more, one (Aaron Judge) intentionally.
Familia then fell behind Gleyber Torres and with no place to put him, left a pitch over the middle of the plate which Torres sliced to the right-center gap, with the ball coming to a stop at the base of the bullpen wall. All three baserunners scored, and while the Red Sox answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, couldn't produce the tying run.
That brought Familia's numbers to: 11.1 innings pitched, 10 hits allowed, eight runs, seven earned runs, seven walks, eight strikeouts and a hit batter. That translated to a 5.57 ERA, and in turn, resulted in him being designated for assignment.
There's a reason why the Philadelphia Phillies released Familia a month ago. When a team desperate for bullpen arms, in the middle of a pennant race, gives up on a veteran pitcher, there's usually a pretty good reason.
The reason, it's now clear, is that Familia isn't a major league caliber reliever anymore.
When the Sox signed him to a minor league deal after he cleared waivers, the Sox insisted that they saw something in Familia that could be salvaged. Whatever it was the Sox had planned, it didn't take. Familia couldn't command his signature split-finger fastball with any consistency, and that proved his undoing. When major league hitters know you can't locate your best pitch, they lay off it altogether and instead club your fastball.
So, out goes Familia, and in comes, starting Wednesday, infielder Yu Chang, claimed on waivers from Tampa Bay Monday, will join the team, according to MassLive.com. The Sox needed both a 40-man spot and a spot on the major league roster to house Chang, and Familia's departure provides both.
But the more pertinent question would seem to be: what was Familia doing here in the first place?
The Sox had other options at Worcester. Frank German, who was acquired in the Adam Ottavino deal, has been superb at Triple A. In 37 games, he has a 2.65 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.
Wouldn't it have made more sense to get a sneak peek at German in the final month, rather than entrusting close games to a veteran journeyman who has no future with the organization?
German is going to need to be placed on the 40-man roster this winter anyway, to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Why not give him a head start and have him here, to pitch in lower leverage spots and get acclimated?
Perhaps that move will come soon enough. Maybe the Sox will, at some point, get back to 14 pitchers and German will get his promotion after all.
For now, however, Familia is gone, demonstrating that, eventually, even last-place teams have their limits.