So it’s come down to this.

Two hundred twenty seven days since pitchers and catchers reported to Fort Myers for spring training — 182 days since a Boston Herald headline branded them as the “Best Team Ever,” 126 days since the first of the 72 mornings they awoke in first place, and just 25 days since they were nine games ahead of the Rays in the race for a playoff spot — everything is still to be decided for the Red Sox on this final day of the regular season.

And for some of them, everything means more than merely the wild card.

For some, reputations, and futures, and legacies are on the line over the next 24-48 hours, as the Sox try to prevent six weeks of brutal baseball from becoming the biggest September collapse in the history of the game.

That’s not hyperbole, either. Since the safety net of the wild card was built into the system in 1995, no team that entered September in sole possession of the best record in its league — as Boston did — has failed to reach the postseason.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, never has a club choked away a lead of bigger than 7.5 games over the season’s final full month. And so if that is history the Red Sox do indeed rewrite, there must be repercussions. Some of them will be fair. Others won’t. But all will be influenced by what transpires between now and Friday’s start to the American League Division Series.

One who has already become a popular scapegoat among fans, and could potentially become the fall guy for the organization, is Terry Francona. He entered Tuesday with a chance to win 90 games for the sixth time in his eight seasons, and that run most memorably includes a couple of World Series titles. But the manager’s return next season is subject to ownership exercising an option, so it could essentially blame him without having the blood of a firing on their hands.

Of all the principals in this predicament, though, Francona may bear the least responsibility. He didn’t throw any of the pitches that rendered the Sox’ September earned run average at 5.85 through Monday. He didn’t commit any of the errors or baserunning gaffes that have become painfully common over the past month. He didn’t break Clay Buchholz’s back, or cause Kevin Youkilis’ sports hernia.

To completely discount his impact on the way things have unfolded would actually be to diminish the manager’s role in the successes of his tenure — but ultimately it comes down to the team on the field. And that’s where Theo Epstein is accountable.

In his defense, the squad he assembled did post the best record in the AL over the first five months, and the players his minor-league system developed have been solid. However, depth shouldn’t be an issue for a team with a payroll in excess of $160 million, yet that has been a major problem over the course of this skid largely because of the money the GM has wasted on the open market.

In total, Carl Crawford, J.D. Drew, Mike Cameron, John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Bobby Jenks will cost the Sox $66.25 million this season — and through Monday that investment had produced a 17-17 pitching record, with a 6.21 ERA and 1.64 walks and hits per inning pitched, plus a .233 batting average with 18 homers, 87 runs batted in and 18 stolen bases.

Pitching-wise that works out to $146,713 per inning, and for comparison’s sake consider that ex-Red Sox Johnny Damon has practically equaled those three players himself, beginning Tuesday with a .261 average, 16 HRs, 73 RBIs and 19 steals — for a fraction of the cost, at $5.25 million.

Epstein’s misses may have cost him the chance to re-sign MVP candidate Adrian Beltre last winter, and this winter they could cost him again. Even if the Red Sox were willing to eat some money, the enormity of Lackey’s struggles and Crawford’s contract would figure to make either impossible to trade, so, with all that money already committed to next season, if the edict comes from the owners that the GM must make significant changes it’s doubtful there’d be enough cash left in the coffers to re-sign Jonathan Papelbon and David Ortiz.

After the seasons and careers each has had at Fenway, they would both be unfair casualties of this collapse. But there are unpleasant consequences when things go this badly. If the Sox fail like no team has ever failed, in a season that showed such promise at the start, at midsummer, and even at the dawn of September, there must be repercussions.

And if it’s the Rays who are playing Friday, the Red Sox are likely to feel those reverberations well beyond October.

Dave D’Onofrio covers the Red Sox for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His email address is ddonof13@gmail.com.

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