With 23 games to go and a 6 game deficit in the wild card and 9 game (in the loss column) deficit in the AL East, where will the Red Sox finish?

Can the sox overcome the yankees?
Can the sox win the wild card?
Can the sox make it a fight for the wild card?
Will the sox scratch a few games off the deficit in the east before finishing the yr?
Will the sox tailspin from here and fall >10 off the pace?

We can then look back on this at the end and see if the board got it right.

6 games out of the div, 4 out of the WC

Couldn't they just miss the wild card and be 5 games out of the AL East? I see them coming up just short (by a couple games) of the WC but I have my fingers crossed.

If and its a big if this team reverses its august and takes 2 or 3 from Minnesota at home then I think they will have a legitiment shot. Just remember the Angels blew a 5.5 game lead to the Mariners in 95...why is a 6.5 game lead any different?

I think they need to sweep Minny to pull this off, take 2 of 4 vs. the Yanks, and play .800 ball against TB, BAL, KC, TOR, etc...to do this. And win tonight of course. Really tall order...this puts them at about 93 wins...18-5 the rest of the way. If they sweep Minny, 93 wins might pull off the WC.

One at a time......

Why? Because we don't have any starting pitching or a closer.
I'll watch and root for them, but they don't have a chance to make the playoffs with the current pitching staff.

I'm not getting excited over these last two games with Chicago. They will not make the playoffs, they don't have the pitching and they don't have a closer. If they do make a run at it this is what I envision:
Coming into the last series of the year against the Baltimore Orioles, the Sox will need to win only one game to clinch their playoff birth.... and they will then proceed to get swept by the Orioles

AL East Champeens! Wooo!

Someone has to do have blind faith, it'll be me!

If we sweep today - take 2 out of 3 against KC - 2 out of 3 at Baltimore - win 2 or 3 out of four at Yankee stadium - sweep the Twins at Fenway - win 2 or 3 at Toronto and sweep our last five at home against Tampa and Baltimore -----
18-5. 28% chance, definitely possible.

Wow! I thought I had a lot of blind faith to vote 5 games out of the AL East.

We'll finish 8-10 games behind the Yanks and 4-6 games behind in the wild card race. In other words, I think we've stabililized from our free fall and will edn up just about where we are now. But without Papelbon and without a proven starter at the top of the rotation (Schill's health), I can't see us making up the lost ground.

There is something to be said for blind faith. Thumbs up to the one person who voted us AL East champs!

Maybe Ortiz can put the team on his back once again and carry us all month. You never know. Never doubted Larry Legend, and won't doubt Ortiz; anything is possible.

Do you know who the Giants, who are still in it, have closing these days? Mike Stanton. However, the Giants aren't chasing Minnesota and the White Sox (Yankees?). I mostly agree with you but stranger things have happened.

Yes, but Yankees are going to be Mariano-less for an undertermined amount of time also and with Wang/Johnson being the only dependable starter(s) for the Yankees at the moment (depending on how you feel about Johnson), the Yankees arguably are in the same position as us at the moment when it comes to SP/Closers.

Not really. Mussina will end up coming back to the form he was in and that 3 headed monster will be right there to fight for in the playoffs. And if guys like Karstens and Rasner keep coming up in the woodwork, then they might friggin run the table the rest of the way, just kidding. Mo will be back in a week and things will settle from there. The East is was out of reach in my opinion, and the likelihood is the WC is too.

I'm thinking we can make up 3 games over everyone, at best.