I had heard that Sale had wrist surgery but I hadn't heard the Bicycle accident part. Wow. When they signed the extension, the Sox probably expected there would be elbow surgery at some point and a season missed but to now have missed essentially 2 full seasons, wow.
And you wonder why the Sox are reluctant to sign big long term contracts. Pitcher are very different than position players but this is not going to help the Sox feel good about signing Bogaerts or Devers to long term super deals.
Devers, IMO, is young enough that I'd feel comfortable giving him a long-term deal.
The problem with Sale in particular, and a lot of big-money deals in general, is that teams are giving them these huge deals when they're near or at (or even past) age 30.
In Sale's case, he was just about 30 when Boston gave him his extension—the guy's always been built like a twig, and has always been a hard thrower, so durability should've been a question on management's mind (I know, hindsight is 20-20, but professional GMs get paid, in part, to consider these issues). In Sale's case, there was still one more season on his prior deal, so management could've waited a year to see if Sale held up and continued to perform well—which he didn't, going 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 2019.
In the case of Bogaerts, I want him to stay in Boston, but he turns 30 on October 1, and I'm not sure I want the team to give him a big-money 5-year deal, given that he's likely to decline significantly before that contract is up.
