Blue Jays Turning Away Trade Interest In Alek Manoah Expect Him To Be In 2024 Rotatio

The Blue Jays have heard from teams looking to buy low on right-hander following a disastrous 2023 season throughout the winter, but Jon Morosi of MLB Network that the Jays have been telling interested parties they expect Manoah to be in the 2024 rotation and do not plan to move him. By Marco Kasper Jersey now, the highs and lows of Manoahs 2022-23 campaigns are well-documented. The right-hander finished third in American League Cy Young voting as recently as 2022, pitching to a pristine 2.24 earned run average while fanning 22.9% of his opponents against a 6.5% walk rate. He made 31 starts, totaled 196 2/3 innings, and was named to his first All-Star team that year. The 2023 season was the polar opposite; Manoahs velocity, strikeout rate and walk rate all went in the wrong direction. His home run rate doubled. His opponents average exit velocity jumped by two miles per hour, while their hard-hit rate spiked from 31.5% to 44.4%. Manoah was optioned to the minors multiple times throughout the 2023 season a notion that wouldve been unthinkable entering the year. The right-hander underwent a slate of medical exams after being optioned for the final time, but no major injury was uncovered. He wound up finishing out the season with a grisly 5.87 ERA in just 87 1/3 frames. Manoahs final big league start came on Aug. 10. Throughout the offseason, Manoahs name has popped up in various trade rumors. Thats plenty understandable, as even if the 2023 season represents a clear rock-bottom for the talented righty, hes only a year removed from being on the opposite end of that spectrum. Manoah also just turned 26 years old in January, and hes controllable for another four years before he can become a free agent. Even if the Jays (or a trade partner) never get him back to that peak 2022 form, theres an appealing middle ground where Manoah could be a strong mid-rotation arm at an affordable rate for several years. For the Blue Jays, the upside of keeping Manoah has clearly outweighed the temptation to pursue a change of scenery. Thats likely due both to belief in the pitcher himself and the offers and names discu sed with other clubs in trade talks. Interested parties were undoubtedly trying to acquire Manoah at something of a discounted rate in light of last years struggles. The Jays, presumably, retained a lofty asking price given the affordability, remaining club control and ceiling of the pitcher. Beyond the general difficulty of lining up on asking price in such a volatile buy-low situation, the Jays simply arent teeming with rotation depth. A suming Manoah is in the starting five to begin the season, hell join , , and to round out the group. Its a solid quintet but one with its own question marks even beyond Manoah. Berrios 2022 season was similar to Manoahs 2023 campaign; in 32 starts he was tagged for an uncharacteristic 5.23 ERA with the highest home-run rate and lowest strikeout rate of his career. He bounced back in 23 (3.65 ERA in 189 2/3 innings), but his 22 struggles are surely still in the back of the Jays minds. Meanwhile, Kikuchi is something of a wild card. The 32-year-old lefty is clearly a talented arm but has had a roller-coaster MLB tenure. At his best, hes looked like a borderline top-of-the-rotation arm, but there have been low points where hes pitched his way out of a rotation spot entirely. Between Manoah, Berrios and Kikuchi, theres a volatile, broad-reaching range of potential outcomes. The depth behind that group is also somewhat lacking. Left-hander is one of the top pitching prospects in the sport but to sed just 44 innings during the 2023 regular season only four of which came in Triple-A. He tacked on another 18 innings in the Arizona Fall League, but hes lacking upper-minors experience and will be on an innings cap to some extent in 2024. Righty , who agreed to a four-year, $32MM deal might be an eventual rotation option for Toronto, but he didnt pitch in 2023 outside of a brief showing in the World Baseball Cla sic, and he was primarily a reliever during his most recent run with the Chunichi Dragons of Japans Nippon Profe sional Baseball. The Jays have a trio of other right-handers on the 40-man roster who could conceivably serve as depth: , and . But Whites roster spot could be in jeopardy this spring after he posted a 5.50 ERA in Triple-A last season and a 7.11 ERA in 12 2/3 MLB frames. Hes out of minor league options, so hell need to make the Opening Day club, likely as a long reliever/swingman, or else be designated for a signment. Francis, 28 in April, posted a sparkling 1.73 ERA with Toronto last year but worked exclusively out of the bullpen in the big leagues and made only seven minor league starts. He pitched a total of 66 1/3 innings in 23. Parsons, 31, joined the Jays on a minor league deal after a two-year run in the KBO and posted a 4.52 ERA in 17 Triple-A starts before being rocked for nine runs in four innings during his lone MLB start. Given the shaky nature of the teams depth and the fact that 60 percent of the current MLB rotation has struggled to an ERA north of 5.00 in one of the past two seasons, its understandable if the Jays want to retain as much depth as po sible. Couple that with what one can imagine have been lackluster offers from teams hoping to secure a bargain acquisition of Manoah, and it becomes all the easier to see why the Jays prefer to hang onto him. Any trade situation is fluid, of course, and it takes all of one phone call or text me sage with the right players name(s) to get earnest trade talks rolling. For now, however, it seems likely to anticipate Manoah will open the season in Toronto and look to reestablish himself as a viable cog in a talented but mercurial rotation. Elmer Soderblom Jersey