Okay, so it’s Friday. The Sox are about to open a critical (aren’t they all at this point) series with the Twins. It’s time for honesty.

What do you, Red Sox Nation, predict to be the ultimate fate of version 2004 of our beloved Olde Towne Team? How far will they go? What heights will they attain? What new lows will they hit?

In my heart, as always, I feel that this could be the year. I’ve thought that every year, even when our line-ups were populated with the likes of Wes Chamberlin, Dante Bichette and Luis Alicea.

In my gut, it’s a different story. I have this unnerving vision of them making the playoffs by the skin of their teeth as the Wild Card, then falling in the first round. I dunno. There’s just something missing — the spark, the sense of urgency that defined last season.

Simply put, they haven’t showed that killer instinct yet. The kind that sets off nine or ten game win streaks. The kind that absolutely crushes opponents into a fine paste. What they have been is a slightly-better-than-.500 team that looks as menacing as Godzilla or Sammy Davis Jr., depending on which day of the week you happen to catch them.

But enough of my rambling. What do you think?