The seeds of Alek Manoah’s arrival in Anaheim were planted immediately after the Blue Jays DFA’ed their one-time Cy Young finalist in late September, after he lost the entire regular season to a UCL surgery.
Before he was hired by the Angels, GM Perry Minasian was Toronto’s director of pro scouting. Although he and Manoah didn’t overlap (Manoah was drafted two years after Minasian’s departure), picking Manoah up on waivers felt like a Minasian-esque move.
He was ultimately claimed off of waivers by the Braves instead, which let Angels fans breathe a sigh of relief. But it didn’t last forever.
Manoah was non-tendered by Atlanta in late November and, per Jeff Passan, he signed with the Angels on a one-year, $1.95 million deal on Tuesday afternoon.
Right-hander Alek Manoah and the Los Angeles Angels are in agreement on a one-year, $1.95 million contract, a source tells ESPN. Manoah, 27, was non-tendered by Atlanta and lands with the Angels on a fully guaranteed big league deal.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 2, 2025
The only thing to celebrate here is that the Angels blessedly didn’t give him an egregious amount of money, but the bad news is that he will almost certainly factor into their plans for the rotation in 2026, and they scraped the bottom of the barrel by signing Manoah.
Angels sign Blue Jays’ ousted 2022 Cy Young finalist Alek Manoah to a one-year deal
The Angels’ trade for Grayson Rodriguez and their Manoah signing certainly does signal that they’re trying to rebuild their rotation — but with this caliber of player? Both were much-hyped prospects who look very much like disappointments a few years into their careers, and both lost their entire 2025 seasons to injury. At least Rodriguez didn’t come with all of the baggage Manoah’s been carrying since 2023, when he was demoted and refused to report to his Triple-A assignment.
Maybe it’s of some consolation to the Angels that Manoah looked decent in his rehab Triple-A starts this year. After posting less-than-ideal numbers in 5 1/3 innings from Rookie ball to Double-A, he made seven starts (33 1/3 innings) and pitched to a 2.97 ERA in Triple-A.
His 2022 season was incredibly impressive — almost 200 innings pitched, 180 strikeouts, 2.24 ERA — but his dropoff came so swiftly that it’s hard to believe anyone could recapture his old form.
And, if we had to guess, Minasian will call it a day on pitching acquisitions after this signing. The rotation is technically full and the bullpen could be if Caden Dana gets bumped back there. What fans are left with is an okay No. 1 starter in Yusei Kikuchi, and a handful of 4.00+ ERA guys who can’t stay healthy.
Nice deal, Perry.