Red Sox Clearly Jumped the Gun Giving Chris Sale Massive Contract Extension

At the time of Chris Sale's extension, Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox were still riding their World Series high. They were just a week away from the start of the season and still had dreams of repeating as champions.

However, their grandiose imaginations of capturing the franchise's 10th World Series title blinded them to the dangers of signing their ace southpaw to a five-year, $145 million extension.

With Sale shut down for the rest of the regular season due to elbow inflammation and his future rather hazy, they're realizing the new contract may have been just a tad premature.

In this specific case, the deal was entirely unnecessary. Sale still had a year left on his contract. They could have easily waited to offer him a new deal.

That's not even to mention the fact that he was about to embark on his age-30 season at the time of the extension. Injuries have been a problem for the past calendar year for Sale, and the man isn't going to get any younger.

There obviously was the possibility that he could put up yet another monster season and pitch himself to an even larger deal, but that concern should have paled in comparison to the risks that are now becoming a reality. Besides, he already won a World Series with them. There was no urgent need for the deal.

It's as if they learned nothing from the behemoth contract given to David Price just a few years ago. It almost looks as though the Red Sox might actually have to go through a similar ordeal with Sale as they have with Price.

Dave Dombrowski and his front office got too caught up in the idea of building a long-lasting, star-studded rotation with Sale without considering the risks involved. That much is obvious.