After ending third in AL Cy Younger voting in 2022, Alek Manoah had a disastrous 2023 season, posting a 5.87 ERA over 87 1/3 innings whereas struggling a big lack of management. Manoah’s hellish yr included a month-long stint within the Florida Complicated League to attempt to clear up his sudden mechanical points, in addition to a later choice to Triple-A Buffalo in August that didn’t end in any precise pitching appearances with the Bisons.
With all this in thoughts, it maybe isn’t stunning that rival executives have advised The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that “the Blue Jays are open to shifting” Manoah in a commerce, and groups have made calls on the whole asking about Toronto’s rotation depth. After all, groups are sometimes prepared to hear on nearly any participant, so it isn’t clear if Toronto is merely doing its due diligence in not dismissing affords for Manoah, or if the Jays are actively procuring Manoah in some regard.
It’s troublesome to name Manoah a real commerce candidate given the nonetheless considerably mysterious nature of his down yr. Some sort of harm gave the impression to be an element, as Jays GM Ross Atkins mentioned in October that Manoah obtained a PRP injection to deal with some shoulder discomfort. Manoah additionally went by way of some medical testing throughout his stint in Buffalo, however there have been additionally experiences of some laborious emotions between Manoah and the staff, maybe relating to how the minor league choice may’ve price Manoah sufficient service time to say Tremendous Two standing.
Solely the Jays and Manoah himself have an thought of his standing heading into 2024, or if even which may nonetheless be unclear till Manoah will get some offseason or Spring Coaching work beneath his belt. Clearly no staff goes to pay a giant value for Manoah with out having extra understanding of what precisely is plaguing the 25-year-old right-hander, in order that alone limits Toronto’s leverage in any commerce discussions.
By that very same token, if Manoah simply must get wholesome, it’s doable he may take pleasure in a swift return to type. Ought to such a bounce-back occur, the Blue Jays clearly need to profit, fairly than promoting low on Manoah after which watching him rebound on one other membership. That mentioned, “promoting low” remains to be higher than promoting for nothing, and one other mediocre season may break Manoah’s commerce worth fully. Manoah’s tough season is only one season, and rival groups may really feel they’ve a solution to Manoah’s mechanical issues, or {that a} commerce itself may get Manoah on observe if there may be certainly dangerous blood between the righty and Jays administration.
MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald lately speculated that the Blue Jays and Cardinals may line up on a Manoah commerce, maybe involving such previous Jays commerce targets as Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar, or Brendan Donovan. With Carlson and Tyler O’Neill each struggling for the final two seasons after some early success of their MLB careers, the Playing cards and Jays may theoretically discover shifting two “promote low” candidates for one another, hoping that mutual change of surroundings would profit all events. St. Louis is certainly one of many groups searching for pitching this winter, and with the Jays having a wide selection of holes to fill within the lineup, a number of golf equipment may very well be suits if Manoah was certainly out there.
The opposite query a couple of Manoah commerce is how it will influence Toronto’s rotation. Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, and Yusei Kikuchi are set as the highest 4, with Manoah being the favourite for the fifth spot although Atkins made no ensures. If groups are asking in regards to the Blue Jays’ pitchers on the whole, any of Bowden Francis, Mitch White, Wes Parsons, and even Kikuchi may very well be out there on the proper value. Such a deal involving one other pitcher would indicate that Toronto is assured Manoah can bounce again, or that the Jays are maybe exploring buying one other pitcher for extra stability on the again finish of the pitching workers.
