Alek Manoah is getting another shot at the big leagues.
The 27-year-old right-hander is in agreement with the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year, $1.95-million contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday.
It is a fully guaranteed major league deal, Passan added.
Manoah was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 23 as a corresponding move when Anthony Santander was activated off the injured list.
The former Cy Young finalist was then claimed by the Atlanta Braves, who declined to tender him a contract on the Nov. 21 deadline.
Manoah had spent his entire professional career with the Blue Jays, who drafted the Florida native 11th overall in 2019. He reached the majors in 2021 and was a rising star in 2022, when he made the AL All-Star team and finished third in the Cy Young Award voting while going 16–7 with a 2.24 ERA and 180 strikeouts.
But Manoah had a miserable start to 2023, eventually getting sent to the minors to fix control issues. He made five starts for the Jays in 2024 before he was sidelined by surgery.
Manoah last pitched in the major leagues during the 2024 season, recording a 3.70 ERA, striking out 26 and walking eight over 24.1 innings spread out across five starts in May.
After experiencing a pinching sensation in his elbow in his final start that season, Manoah required surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and underwent a hybrid Tommy John procedure, replacing the ligament and anchoring the new one with an internal brace suture.
Manoah spent the rest of the 2024 season and most of 2025 recovering from the procedure, eventually logging 38.2 innings across four minor league levels while rehabbing in the Blue Jays organization. He pitched to a 3.96 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 23 walks in 2025.
Los Angeles just added respected pitching coach Mike Maddux to new manager Kurt Suzuki’s staff, and Manoah is the second once-promising starter recovering from major injury to join the Angels in the offseason.
Last month, Los Angeles acquired former top prospect Grayson Rodriguez from Baltimore in a trade for outfielder Taylor Ward, betting that Maddux and the Angels’ staff can help Rodriguez to fulfill his considerable potential.
Rodriguez and Manoah didn’t pitch in the majors at all in 2025, but they’ll both hope to be in the running for a spot in the Angels’ rotation in 2026.
Manoah’s control problems in 2023 had a direct effect on the Angels: He hit Ward in the face with a fastball that July, ending the slugger’s season.
