It will be another month -- at minimum -- before we can assess the significance of what took place at a rain-soaked, wind-blown Fenway Park Tuesday night.
That's when Nate Eovaldi will officially become a free agent, and, if the Red Sox don't succeed in getting him signed to a contract extension in the next few weeks, Xander Bogaerts will join him.
So it's possible that Tuesday represented the final start of Eovaldi's Red Sox career and the second-to-last game in a Red Sox uniform by Bogaerts.
Could be. Possibly.
We don't know what we don't know.
But if this was goodbye for Eovaldi, and close to it for Bogaerts, the record will show that the two both exited on high notes.
In a rain-shortened victory by the Red Sox over the Tampa Bay Rays, Eovaldi didn't allow a run in five innings and Bogaets belted a grand slam.
Thanks for the memories.
The game meant nothing to either team. The Rays are all but locked into the final wild-card spot, and the Red Sox, of course, were officially eliminated from the playoff race about 10 days ago. So, the minute the tarp was pulled out with two out in the bottom of the fifth as the rain and wind intensified, it seemed pretty obvious that play wouldn't be resuming.
Sure enough, after a perfunctory 45-minute delay, the plug was pulled. By then, there were probably only a few hundred fans remaining in the ballpark, the rest having smartly given up and gone home.
Still, there was a somber air of finality hanging over the proceedings all night. The miserable weather seemed the perfect backdrop for the final games of an ultimately underwhelming season. What, you were expecting a beautiful fall night and a brilliant full moon?
In his postgame comments, Eovaldi was his usual business-like self, dissecting what was arguably his best start in some time. Eovaldi had lobbied to come back from his second IL stint and get a chance to pitch twice more before the home crowd, but afterward, he was careful to not attach too much sentiment to the outing.
He dispassionately took apart his repertoire, talked about improved mechanics and seemed pleased with the uptick in velocity.
"I think leading up to it (it was on my mind that this could be my last start here),'' he said. "But when I got out there, it was just going out and competing. The Rays are a really good team. They're in the postseason and I just tried to go out there and pitch well against him.''
He expressed some mild regret that he was given the opportunity to come off the mound knowing his night was over. Instead, as he came off in the middle of the fifth, he couldn't know that the game would be halted before the bottom of the inning was completed.
"It would have been nice to walk off the field with the game still going on,'' he said, with a what-are-you-going-to-do shrug. "(I knew) that this could be the last one here and I've been so grateful and thankful for everything the Red Sox have been able to do for me and the fans have been absolutely incredible. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure something out and work it out.''
If Eovaldi was primarily stoic and business-like, Bogaerts, as is his custom, was more reflective and philosophical.
"It's been a lot of years that I've been here,'' he said, anticipating Wednesday's season finale. "I've enjoyed every moment. I've appreciated the fans, ups and downs. I'm proud of the man that I've become. I came here as a little kid. I was afraid to be on the field in the postseason. I remember, I just wanted to be on the bench and watch the game.
"I hit that double in Detroit (in the ALCS) and (Mike) Napoli was like, 'Hey, you're going to play the next day.' I was like, 'Bruh, I don't want to play the next day. I walked by the office and John (Farrell) told me, 'Hey, come here, kid.' I was like, 'Shit.' He told me I was playing tomorrow. So I've come a long way from not wanting to be in the lineup to being the lineup and helping the team.''
Since spring training, Bogaets' uncertain future has hung over the team like a cloud, and that's been made worse by the struggles the team has had on the field. A winning season might have allowed him to push his contract issues to the side; a losing season, meanwhile, has kept them in the forefront.
"Losing, a lot of uncertainty at the trade deadline...there was a lot going on this year,'' he said. "Obviously, the contract stuff and having to talk about it the whole year, taking the attention away from the team. If we were winning, it would have been much easier for me. But that's not the case. It's a long season, man.''
Now, one final game remains, with the question unanswered: Final game of this season, or final game with the Red Sox?
For one night, however, two high-profile stars enjoyed one final moment.