Thornburg and Smith are not really great supports for your argument. Pomeranz has definitely fallen out of favor despite a good last year. So it's Sale and a closer.
Why do you keep saying Dombrowski had n pitching and had to rebuild the entire staff? He did inherit Porcello, Rodriguez, Wright, Johnson, Barnes, Kelly, Hembree and Workman. Or do you think Thornburg and Smith are more important than the bulk of the staff?
Side note - which acquistion took more baseball accumen - emptying the farm for Chris Sale or trading a pending free agent for Rick Porcello? Chris Sale and his talent were hardly a secret to anyone with a pulse. But why is it when a GM acquires a player like Porcello and watches him turn into a high level pitcher, it is written off as "luck"?