The Red Sox may not have many paths to the playoffs in whatever becomes of 2020, but MLB is considering a proposal that might just light the way.
According to USA Today, baseball could switch to three geographic divisions and expand the playoffs in a pair of gifts to the Red Sox, who have had precious little to cheer over the last six months, unless you count being bailed out of a cheating scandal.
Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App
The Red Sox would land in the East, a division with three standouts, three steaming dumpsters of rancid fish, one have-not, and an eminently navigable three-team middle class. Finish first in that mini-group, and there could actually be a wild card game in their future.
So let's break it down. The Red Sox are unlikely to finish ahead of the defending World Series champion Nationals, the 106-win Yankees, or those scrappy 96-win Rays, though Tampa's margin for error is always razor thin, and the Nats could experience a World Series hangover.
Either way, the competition then drops precipitously. And if expanding the playoffs means taking the top four clubs in each division, there's your path to October.
Nearly half the division won't even present a challenge. Of the seven clubs that failed to win 70 games last season, four reside in the proposed East — the Pirates (69), Blue Jays (67), Marlins (57) and Orioles (54).
Boston Red Sox
Find the latest Boston Red Sox news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
With the exception of the exciting young Jays, they're each terrible in their own way, whether it's the cost-conscious Pirates, who just slashed the benefits of their baseball operations staff; Derek Jeter's perpetually tanking Marlins; or the woeful Orioles, who desecrate one of baseball's finest ballparks on a nightly basis.
That leaves two NL East squads in the race with Boston for fourth.
The Mets are coming off an 86-win season, a Rookie of the Year campaign from slugging first baseman Pete Alonzo, and a late run towards relevance that briefly had Flushing rocking again. They're also poorly run and hoping that the wear on two-time defending Cy Young Award winner Jacob DeGrom doesn't lead to a breakdown with his 32nd birthday looming.
Then there are the Phillies, who signed Bryce Harper to a megabucks contract in free agency before stumbling to an 81-81 finish that cost manager Gabe Kapler his job. Philly added Zack Wheeler to one of the NL's worst pitching staffs, but we're still talking about a team that hasn't reached the playoffs or finished above .500 since 2011.
The Red Sox may have a host of problems, from the lack of an ace to a lineup trying to account for the absence of Mookie Betts to a bullpen that's really hoping Brandon Workman wasn't a flash in the pan. But a lineup built around Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, and J.D. Martinez should still thump, and maybe chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will be able to get creative on the pitching front.
This would be a very different conversation in either of the other proposed divisions. The teams in the East combined for just 790 wins last year, which is less than the Central (808) or West (831). The Central includes three division winners (Twins, Braves, Cardinals), as well as the 93-win Indians and wild card Brewers. The West features the 107-win Astros, 106-win Dodgers, and 97-win A's. Meanwhile, three of baseball's defending last-place teams call the East home.
That's called doing the Red Sox a solid. If a season is played, they might even take advantage of it.