MLB Rumors: Yankees back in on Snell, Alonso door open for Mets, Manoah hype train
- The New York Yankees are back in on Blake Snell on a short-term deal.
- The door is still open for a Pete Alonso extension with the Mets.
- The Alek Manoah hype train is a good sign for the Toronto Blue Jays
By Mark Powell
MLB Rumors: Alek Manoah is back for the Blue Jays and ready to contribute
Alek Manoah is closing in on 'best shape of his life' territory, as the Blue Jays starting pitcher aims to rejoin the rotation in 2024 after a downtrodden season last year. Manoah finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2022. Just a season later and he had an ERA of 5.87 and was sent to the minor leagues on several occasions.
Manoah is by no means guaranteed a spot in the Blue Jays rotation. He'll have to earn it, and John Schneider likes what he's seen from the 26-year-old so far in spring training.
“We have the version of Alek that we were accustomed to seeing before last year,” Schneider said. “He tackled his offseason like we thought he would and hoped he would. He’s in tremendous shape. I’ve seen him throw, and it looks normal, like him. We are talking about a guy who gave us almost 200 innings two years ago, third in the Cy Young, a two-something ERA [2.24]. It’s pretty elite stuff. Not really having that last year consistently was a big blow to us. We did the best we could to bridge the gap.”
Manoah was mentioned in trade talks this offseason, but the Blue Jays never balked. They believe their former ace can return to form this coming season. Toronto's rotation includes Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, Yariel Rodriguez, Yusei Kikuchi and more.
It's a surprisingly-deep group which would benefit greatly from Manoah pitching like an All-Star once again. In 2022, Manoah had a 16-7 record paired with a 2.24 ERA.