Well this looks like a stupid move but perhaps he wanted to save some of his income? Besides, the 45k player he sold isn't a great SG. I saw his skills but the only skills that are outstanding and making the salary is high is the JS and JR.
There are 5 possible spots in div I at the moment. Usually only 4 teams promote to div I but since there are 5 bots (or there will be 5 bots soon), 5 teams will get promoted. As far as I can remember, if you have the best record or something like that, even if you didn't win the league championship, you get promoted. That's what happened to Rescue Ink last season. So there's still a chance!