According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, the Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly going to move forward with polarizing pitcher Alek Manoah in the starting rotation.
Per Morosi:
Teams have asked the Blue Jays about Alek Manoah’s availability via trade, but sources say the Jays are telling clubs they have no plans to move him.
I’m told Manoah has had a very good offseason of workouts. He’s expected to be in the Jays’ rotation.
The 26-year-old had a miserable 2023 season, going 3-9 with a 5.87 ERA. He struck out just 79 batters in 87.1 innings just a year after being the Blue Jays Game 1 starter in the playoffs. He also was sent to the minor leagues on multiple occasions.
There were complaints about his fitness levels and his inability to adjust to the new pitch clock.
All that said, he's still young, and is under team control through 2027, so you understand why Toronto doesn't want to sell low on him. He went 16-7 in 2022 with a 2.24 ERA. He was an All-Star and finished third in the American League Cy Young voting.
There are a few other things at play here also:
1) The Blue Jays have an established starting rotation right now. In addition to Manoah, they have Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios. Manoah isn't expected to be the No. 1 anymore and may be able to thrive in a lower pressure fifth starter spot. If he falters, the team also has the newly-signed Yariel Rodriguez to fall back on.
2) This could be a ruse from Toronto. Of course they could still be willing to move Manoah, and they just don't want to tip their hands to this point, and want to extract more value from other teams.
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