I don't think this deal had much to do with the firing. We'll never know of course.
But JH appeared to be behind this 100%, saying they didn't want to make the same mistake they made with Lester.
As for the health of Sale's arm, DD isn't a doctor and he had to rely on the team's medical staff.
In retrospect, statements like this one and 'there are no offseason surgeries planned that I know of' tend to support the whole 'disconnect' theme in DD's departure...
But don't you think it had Larry's mitts all over it? I can't see Hoyer and Cherington deciding to make a blockbuster move like that shortly after the departure of Theo.
On that deal, and the Kimbrel deal, it's almost like the other team said 'Can we have one more please, Dave?' and Dave said 'Yeah, yeah, just be quick about it, I don't have all day.'
I thought it was Lucchino who made that move. And Theo later said he wouldn't have done it because he wanted to keep Hanley. But I could be wrong on both counts.
jung, if you're going to criticize the Eovaldi signing, that's fine. But stop with the '7 innings' crap. Use actual facts. Eovaldi had a good half-season last year and then he pitched 22.1 excellent innings in the postseason - not just 7.
It wasn't just the bullpen this year. DD just seemed to be kind of asleep at the wheel. More evidence is the fact the biggest 'reinforcements' to our lineup late in the year have been Chris Owings and Gorkys Hernandez.
It's hard to know what the right thing to do is. The money and the risk are exorbitant.
Speaking of which, Mike Trout is having a foot problem right now...