Well, I don't think many people are upset about Sale in '17 and '18, a two-season stretch where he was worth 7.6 and 6.2 fWAR. He may not have been great in either postseason, but he played a huge role in getting them there. But those seasons were played under the extension he signed with Chicago. We paid him ~$13m/year for like $60m/year worth of WAR — massive surplus value — which made sending Kopech and Moncada and the good Basabe worthwhile. The deal in question is the extension. And even here, a lot depends on how you want to look at it.I'm with you here. The contract was not a good idea at the time and it hasn't aged well but yeah, IF Sale can come back and pitch the Sox as an ace deep into the playoffs and pitch well into the playoffs then this is all fine. David Price is a fucking hero to me. The dude should have got the WS MVP for the Sox in '18. I can't think of one SoSH poster here who though David Price was a good signing at the dawn of those World Series. And even if you go back and look at his overall track record and compare it to his cost per WAR or whatever it doesn't matter. He was there and killed it when it mattered. People on this board want to say that the Dodgers deal for Mookie was good for the Dodgers just because they won the WS in an Covid shortened season. Granted, I don't think Sale has had that moment yet- his role in the '18 season and WS was relatively limited.
Right now and at the time of the contract offered I also, amongst most here, thought it was a bad idea. But he hasn't been useless and it's not even close to being finished. I'm honestly not optimistic but I can't really judge it until it's done. We know his potential and it's far, far higher than Crawford or Sandovals.
I'm more wondering how or what his role will be when he returns. Could he end up more in a bullpen ace role if the rotation somehow is working successfully?
If you choose to look at the totality of the Chris Sale Experience in Boston, well, he basically started $115m in the black after three seasons. 7.6 + 6.2 + 3.6 = 17.4 fWAR * $9m = $156.6m of on-field value, for which we paid him something like $40m. So seen in that light, he doesn't need to do much going forward to be worth his total compensation from the Red Sox, even if his $145m extension ends up underwater, as it most likely will.
So, I'd say, if we're evaluating Chris Sale, we should conclude that he will likely earn his check in Boston. He just needs to be a mid-rotation starter for a couple years to do that after his hot start in '17 and '18. If we're evaluating Dave Dombrowski, we should conclude that the trade to acquire Sale was a massive coup that made gigantic contributions to a couple of division-winning clubs including a WS champion, and the decision to extend him was an extremely risky move that has so far worked out terribly.