It is possible to have higher hopes while still objectively knowing the Sox will still be pretty bad.
I hope Fedde and Soroka pitch well enough in the 1st half to get some prospects at the deadline.
I hope Crochet stays healthy. Same for Kopech and that he can find some command and get back in the starting rotation.
I hope they find some hidden gem relief pitchers and trade the ones who we don't have a lot of years of control.
I hope every single position player does better than expected and then they get traded.
I hope a lot of the youngsters on the 40 and in the lower minors have tremendous seasons.
I realize the team overall doesn't have nearly enough talent to avoid 90+ losses but if some of the hopes comes to fruition then it's a positive step forward that I hope JR doesn't automatically squash with whatever is up his sleeve,
He is the biggest obstacle by far and where my hopes diminish .