There are very few certainties when it comes to this Red Sox team. 

The manager's fate. The designated hitter's fate. The team's fate. All are seemingly in a state of flux, even after the Sox' 6-4 win over the Twins Sunday afternoon, snapping one of their most uncomfortable losing streaks of the season.

These two things we do know:  1. Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford aren't going anywhere any time soon, and; 2. If the Red Sox are going to have any sort of prolonged success in the coming years there will have to be a whole lot more days like Sunday.

Gonzalez hit a three-run homer, well over the left field wall, while Crawford came away with three more hits, pushing his average to .343 during a string of playing in eight straight games. This is what foundation players are supposed to do, which is important considering they are the Red Sox' foundation.

The Sox have hamstrung their payroll in the coming years in large part through the commitment made to these guys. Gonzalez will be making an average of $22 million through the 2018 season, while Crawford is slated to earn an annual average of $20,285,714 until the end of '17.

It's a reality that is not hidden from the players, or the baseball world. It's why Crawford admitted to WEEI.com in New York that a large impetus for playing through his elbow injury was to live up to his contract. ("I think the fact I make $20 million a year, people probably think I should be out there trying to kill myself. And that's probably the approach I'm taking, too," he said. "You feel like you owe it to the team to do that kind of stuff, and that's why you do it. Any other time you wouldn't do it. … When you sign for $100 million and stuff like that, it's no secret. You feel like you owe it to the team to do that kind of stuff. You make a lot of money so you definitely want to try and pay that back. It's like you owe that to the team to try and do that."

It's also why other organizations are going to try and prey on the Red Sox' situation, calling in an attempt to take such players off their hands. It happened when the Marlins rang in regards to Crawford, and, more recently, via an inquiry from the Dodgers regarding Gonzalez.

There will be talk, and there has been.

"Absolutely," said Gonzalez when asked if he took the Dodgers' interest as a compliment. "If teams are interested in you they're trying to better their team and if they feel you're a guy, they're going to call your team about it. Obviously I'm here and happy to be here and I don't want to go anywhere. That's not my decision."

As the first baseman points out, he has already been traded three times. He knows the deal. But while the reality of the business of baseball will always linger, the intention when Gonzalez signed his seven-year, $154 million extension -- for both the player and the team -- was for the 30-year-old to walk away from the game wearing a Red Sox uniform.

Both sides were obviously comfortable with that notion, even with the payroll/roster limitations such a commitment might present.

"That's what I told them," said Gonzalez when asked if he intended to use his current contract as the bridge to the end of his playing days. "When we were talking contract I was looking for longer term instead of short term because of that. I always admired and enjoyed the Red Sox from afar, so I wanted to be part of it.

"When I heard about getting traded here I was excited because of the opportunity to win a World Series year in and year out. That's why I was more than happy to sign a long-term deal here. If it was a different organization that hadn't shown the commitment to winning a World Series I might not have shown the inclination to sign a long-term extension. It was a team I heard nothing but good things about."

Still, Gonzalez understands the next six-plus seasons will include weeks like the one he just read about.

"Teams are going to call because that's their duty," Gonzalez said. "If I'm a team that says, 'Hey, I can upgrade by getting this guy,' I'm going to see what it is going to take. And then when I hear what it will take I might say no or I might say yes. But you have to make that phone call."

Besides Clay Buchholz, there are no other current Red Sox players who are contractually committed to the Sox as long as the Gonzalez and Crawford deals extend for. (Buchholz has team options that can lock him up through the '17 season.) So when such a commitment is also going to make up between 1/4-1/5 of the organization's total payroll during that stretch, consistent excellence is of the utmost importance.

Sunday marked just the sixth time in two years of playing together that Gonzalez has homered on the same day Crawford claimed at least two hits. That's six times in 266 games in which they've both been in the same lineup.

It's not the be-all, end-all considering there have been 38 Gonzalez home runs as a member of the Red Sox, and Crawford has played in just 18 games this season. But for the money, the number has to take a turn north.

The latest win was a start.

"If I can consistently take that swing, that approach, that mentality," Gonzalez said of his home run, "I'll take it."

Since June 20, Gonzalez has hit .382 with a .957 OPS to go with six homers. And since the mythical "four days on, one day off" project, Crawford has left talk of Tommy John surgery in the rear-view mirror.

"He was hitting with two strikes. He was hitting the ball hard, stealing bases. You saw it. Advanced the runner. Had a damn near perfect game," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine of his left fielder. "When he’s like that, it can make a big difference."

So far this season, the importance of the duo hasn't been magnified in part due to the wave of issues that has surrounded their periods of production. A 5-6 record when Gonzalez homers, or an 8-10 mark in games Crawford plays isn't going to identify the dynamic as a huge difference-maker.

But, in the long-term, the dynamic is of the utmost importance -- bigger than Valentine's current job security, or even the health of Ortiz' Achilles. This is about the future of a franchise. And Sunday offered a taste of why exactly these were the guys for whom the Red Sox pushed in their chips.

"I'm a huge believer that confidence is a huge part of hitting," said Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan. "And those guys are hitting with a lot of confidence."

And the trade rumors?

"I'm not even thinking about that," Gonzalez said before leaving the Red Sox' clubhouse. 

One less thing to worry about. A welcome notion for this team.