The former 1-2 finishers in the AL East may be 4-5 this year.
Rarely has a team won 95 games one year and entered the next with so little respect.
Rarer still is when that team is the New York Yankees, who provide the first opponent for the Red Sox this season.
But there is no chortling in Boston, where the Red Sox have their own image to repair. The team's worst season since 1965 has stained this franchise, and for all the palpable harmony shown in spring training under new manager John Farrell, only better baseball will wash it away.
A legendary rivalry is renewed Monday afternoon, when two teams with more questions than answers meet on opening day at Yankee Stadium. The teams also play on Wednesday and Thursday night.
Even Monday's ace pitchers will be out to prove themselves. Jon Lester will get his third straight opening day assignment for Boston, looking to win one for the first time.
Lester was 9-14 in 2012. The first losing season of his career was better in the final weeks, but still a year to forget.
CC Sabathia will oppose him in the first regular-season test of an elbow that was surgically repaired for bone chips in the offseason. Sabathia made only two starts against big league teams in spring training, while Lester posted a 0.75 ERA.
The rivalry is as passionate as ever, but for different reasons. No longer are these teams fighting for supremacy.
This year, they're fighting for survival. Until last year's 69-93 drudgery of a season, Boston had not finished in last place since 1992, its only previous cellar finish since 1932.
New York's fall from prominence is only speculative. It's been widely anticipated, but it hasn't happened yet.
The American League's best regular season team in 2012 has an All-Star team and perhaps a small Hall of Fame wing on the disabled list. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson are out.
The Yankees still have Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner and an aging Ichiro Suzuki. Kevin Youkilis will wear pinstripes against Boston for the first time, but productive class clown Nick Swisher is in Cleveland.
Russell Martin's defection to Pittsburgh leaves the Yankees with its most mediocre catching since the days of Jake Gibbs in the 1960s.
What they could have is good pitching. Mariano Rivera's final season means that if New York's solid starters and setup relief can get into the ninth with a lead, the Yankees will still rule.
The Red Sox are running on a parallel path, but considering they finished 26 games behind New York last year, they have much more to prove.
Boston led the majors in several spring training pitching categories. The rotation is solid and the bullpen looks deep, though there is a show-me expectation attached to closer Joel Hanrahan that does not exist with Rivera.
The Red Sox are not missing the awesome talent package found on New York's disabled list, but they are without David Ortiz, and that's huge. They will also start the year without shortstop Stephen Drew.
For years, New York and Boston were routinely picked 1-2 in the AL East, and they rarely failed to deliver. This year, many pundits see a 4-5 finish as more likely, with these two high-profile franchises pulling up the rear.
Such forecasts don't do much justice to the Yankees, whose fall from power is based entirely on speculation. Age and injuries make it understandable, but unproven.
The Red Sox are gambling that several new acquisitions can bounce back from off years. The opening series will give the first clues as to which team can start fortifying its most optimistic dreams, and which might be forced to encounter its worst fears.
That's not what this rivalry has been all about, but it still means a lot is at stake for two teams who suddenly find themselves trying to prove they merit respect.