The Angels announced that right-hander Alek Manoah has been released from their Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake. He’d been pitching there since late May, when he was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster. He is now a free agent and able to sign with any team, which will almost certainly come on a minor league deal.
Manoah joined the Halos on a $1.95MM contract back in December. The deal was a low-risk flier by an Angels team that sorely needed starting pitching depth. Manoah opened the season on the 15-day injured list with a right middle finger contusion before being activated on May 6th. He made just three appearances for the big league club, all out of the bullpen. He combined for six scoreless innings in the first two, but then got shelled for nine runs (eight earned) while recording just four outs on May 16th. Troublingly, Manoah sat in the upper-80s with his fastball after previously averaging in the mid-90s while with the Blue Jays.
Not satisfied with those results, the Angels optioned Manoah to Triple-A on the 17th and outrighted him three days later. The righty accepted the outright in order to keep his guaranteed money, which he would have forfeited if he elected free agency. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t right the ship in the minors. From May 30th onward, Manoah threw 30 2/3 innings for Salt Lake with a staggering 16.14 ERA. He struggled badly with control, walking 42 batters in that span while hitting another nine and throwing two wild pitches. He also surrendered 11 home runs (3.23 HR/9).
It’s clear that Manoah is far from the pitcher who dominated from 2021-22 with Toronto. He combined for a 2.60 ERA over 308 1/3 innings in that span, striking out 24.7% of opponents while walking just 7.3%. He finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2022 after posting a 2.24 ERA in nearly 200 innings.
Manoah simply hasn’t been the same since. From 2023 onward, he’s had a 5.67 ERA in 119 innings between the Blue Jays and Angels. He underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2024 and struggled while rehabbing at Triple-A late the following year. A DFA in September 2025 closed the books on his time with the Jays, and though the Braves claimed Manoah off waivers, he ultimately elected free agency that November.
At this stage, Manoah might get some interest from around the league, but only as upper minors depth. Since the start of 2023, he’s struck out 19.7% of opponents and walked 13.5%, grading out worse than average on both fronts. Adding in the lost velocity and his continued struggles this year, and it’s unlikely he’ll get another big league deal right away. That said, Manoah is still only 28 and can theoretically be controlled for two more seasons beyond 2026, so he should get picked up as a reclamation project somewhere as he looks to re-establish himself.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
