The Toronto Blue Jays made a franchise-shaking move today. Sportsnet reported that the Jays have designated Alek Manoah for assignment, officially ending what once looked like a long-term marriage between club and pitcher. Manoah, who not long ago was viewed as the future of the Blue Jays’ rotation, now faces a week where his next destination—and perhaps his entire career arc—will be decided.
The transaction was procedural on its surface. Toronto needed room on the 40-man roster to reinstate Anthony Santander from the 60-day injured list. Ty France also landed on the IL with an oblique issue to clear active roster space. But the headline, and the shock across baseball, is Manoah.
From First-Round Pick to Cy Young Contender
The Blue Jays selected Manoah with the 11th overall pick in the 2019 draft out of West Virginia, envisioning a durable power arm to anchor their staff. By 2021, he was already in Toronto, carving through big league hitters with a bulldog presence on the mound.
That rookie year produced a 3.22 ERA across 20 starts, a sign of what was to come. The following season, 2022, was the peak. Manoah delivered 196.2 innings with a sparkling 2.24 ERA, earning an All-Star nod, down-ballot MVP votes, and a third-place finish in the Cy Young race. He wasn’t just good—he was dominant, the kind of pitcher you gave the ball to in October without hesitation. In fact, he started Game 1 of the postseason that year, cementing himself as the face of the rotation.
At that point, imagining a future where Toronto would DFA him less than three years later would’ve seemed absurd.
The Collapse That No One Saw Coming
The warning signs appeared in 2023. Manoah’s command fell apart, his strikeouts dipped, and his walk rate ballooned. His ERA ballooned to nearly six across 19 starts. Twice, the Blue Jays sent him back to the minors in hopes of salvaging the situation. For a team fighting for playoff positioning, he became more of a liability than an asset.
Toronto penciled him back into the rotation for 2024, but the comeback never materialized. A shoulder issue delayed his start to the year, and after a short return, his elbow gave out. Tommy John surgery followed, the kind of career-altering procedure that often changes pitchers forever.
Manoah spent most of 2025 rehabbing and did show flashes of progress at Triple-A Buffalo, where he logged a 2.97 ERA over his final seven starts. Yet for Toronto, contending in September, that wasn’t enough. The roster crunch left little room for sentimentality.
At 27 years old, Manoah now waits out the waiver process. With over three years of service time, he can refuse an outright assignment if he clears and instead elect free agency. Some team, desperate for upside, may take a chance. After all, this was a Cy Young finalist just three seasons ago. The question is whether he can regain that form—or if injuries and mechanics have permanently derailed a once-bright career.
For the Blue Jays, this is as much about moving forward as it is about cutting ties. Santander returns, France hits the IL, and Toronto remains locked in a tight AL East race with the Yankees. Their priority is October, not a reclamation project.
Still, the decision underscores how quickly fortunes change in baseball. Alek Manoah went from cornerstone to castoff in the span of three years. His fall is as stunning as his rise—and now, the next chapter will be written far from Toronto.
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