Former All-Star Alek Manoah Finds Surprising New Home

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00:00Former All-Star Alec Manoa finds surprising new home.

00:04Alec Manoa heads to Anaheim on a $1.95 million Angels deal,

00:09a reclamation chance after 2022 stardom collapsed.

00:13Once heralded as the Toronto Blue Jays' future ace,

00:16he is signing his career into its next chapter and perhaps its final proving ground.

00:21According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, it's a major league packed with the Los Angeles Angels,

00:26modest by today's standards, yet striking in what it suggests.

00:31For those who remember his dominant 2022 season,

00:34it underscores how swiftly a rising star can become a reclamation project.

00:39Three years ago, this kind of deal would have been inconceivable.

00:43In 2022, Manoa was electric, a 2.24 ERA, an All-Star nod, and the Bulldog atop Toronto's rotation.

00:51He seemed poised to anchor the Blue Jays' pitching staff for the better part of a decade.

00:55But that projection unraveled with startling speed in 2023 as his walk rate spiked,

01:01fastball command deteriorated, and he became alarmingly hittable.

01:05By mid-season, he was lost, and the following year,

01:08Tommy John surgery began a long road back lined with setbacks and questions.

01:13Now at 27, with 28 approaching in January,

01:17Alec Manoa finds himself with something rare, a second chance.

01:20The Angels, a club perpetually searching for competent pitching and low-risk upside,

01:26are banking on the idea that Manoa still has something left in the tank.

01:30His 2025 minor league numbers didn't scream breakout, but they didn't disqualify him either.

01:36This is a $1.95 million bet on potential for a pitching-starved team that has made a habit of these types of deals.

01:43For the Angels, it's a familiar move.

01:46Manoa's career line, 29-30 with a 3.34 ERA, still speaks to what he once was.

01:53The hope now is that, somewhere in the wreckage of the last two seasons,

01:58the fire that made him an all-star still burns.

02:01Rebuilding a career after surgery and mental setbacks is no small feat.

02:06But if Manoa can rediscover even a fraction of that 2022 dominance,

02:11the Angels may have found a steal, and he may have just found his way back.

02:15That possibility is what the Angels are wagering on.