Will Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah get claimed of waivers?
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There is a good possibility that Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah may get claimed off waivers on Friday.
The Blue Jays made the decision to cut ties with right-hander Alek Manoah earlier this week, and now that he's been designated for assignment, he's available to the league's other 29 clubs for nothing but the remainder of his salary.
Manoah is under arbitration control through the end of 2027. He made $2.2MM this season and will be in line for a matching rate next year if he's tendered a contract.
Of course, a claiming club would have to be willing to pay him his arbitration-level salary for the 2026 season as well.
Teams with the worst record in baseball will get the first shot at claiming Manoah and so on down the line
The Rockies will have the first opportunity to decide whether to take a flier.
They'll be followed by the White Sox, Nationals, Pirates, Twins and so on. There's a good chance someone will place a claim and hope that a healthy offseason allows Manoah to rebuild arm strength.
He'd remain controllable for another two seasons with a new club and still has two minor league options, so a claiming team could have him begin next season in Triple-A.
The upside Manoah offers is obvious, as he finished third in AL Cy Young voting during the 2022 season off the back of a 2.24 ERA in 196 1/3 innings of work.
He struggled badly in 2023 with a 5.87 ERA and 6.01 FIP in 19 starts, however, and he's made just five starts since then due to Tommy John surgery.
Manoah managed a 2.97 ERA across seven Triple-A starts, but that came in spite of an unimpressive set of underlying numbers.
His strikeout (20.4%), walk (12.2%) and home run (1.62 per nine innings) marks were all worse than average.
Perhaps even more concerning is that his fastball was sitting 91 MPH. His heater had been around 94 during his excellent first two seasons and was above 93 before his elbow surgery last year.
Manoah is still just 27 years old and will hardly break the bank, making him one of the more intriguing late-season waiver possibilities in recent memory.
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