For me, #3 would have to be "Finish out of the basement, compete for a playoff spot through September, and play entertaining baseball and I'm good."
I mean last season they were competing for a playoff spot through late August. On August 26, we were 69-61, 6.5 ahead of the last place Yankees, a couple games out of the wild card, with Story already back and some key pitchers either back or about to be back.
And then they totally cratered and wrecked the whole season as far as I'm concerned. It turned what had been a solidly entertaining season into a garbage meal with a sour mud aftertaste.
The 2023 Red Sox were like someone you meet at a party and you start out thinking, hmm I'm not entirely sure about this person, but they seem kind of funny and entertaining. So you hang out with them for a while and they are saying funny stuff and keeping you entertained, but then about a half hour before you were going to leave, they start screaming obscenities, threatening people, and then puke all over everyone.
I need them to not do that kind of thing again.
There's no reason they still can't sign a couple of solid vets on one-year deals and have a good shot at competing for the wild card for almost all of the season. (Signing Montgomery would really make it likely IMO, but apparently they aren't going to do that so whatever.)
If they don't even make a couple more solid moves though-- not necessarily big names or anything-- then competing won't be very likely and by the end of the Bruins season I'll probably be deciding whether to get rid of the terrible, overpriced NESN 360. (It's called that because it costs you $360 for a year, right? Or is it because there are 360 playback annoyances per week?)
I am basically a diehard fan, and if they get me to that point, then how the heck are they planning to keep the normal people interested?