Is there a plausible argument for competing next year?

I hope the Sox have the same April record next year as this year. It won't mean anything necessarily but that type of start really is helpful. Remember all those posts saying the Sox pretty much had a playoff berth wrapped up in April? Posts like, "We are 23-10 ... if we just go x-x the rest of the season that's 86 wins which should be enough, etc, blah blah." Means nothing. It's a marathon.