MLB Trade Rumors dropped the news Wednesday night: Manoah is officially off the Angels roster, done in Anaheim before he ever really got going there. It's the kind of transaction that barely registers on a scoreboard but says a lot about how fast a career can fall apart.
MLB Trade Rumors confirmed the Angels have cut ties with Manoah, ending his brief run in Los Angeles.
This wasn't a long marriage. The Angels signed Manoah in December to a $1.95 million deal, a classic low-risk flier for rotation depth. He opened the year on the injured list with a finger contusion, got activated in early May, and made just 3 relief appearances at the big-league level. The first 2 went fine — 6 scoreless innings. Then on May 16 he got shelled for 9 runs while recording only 4 outs, and that was basically it for his big-league window.
The velocity is the real story here. Manoah's fastball reportedly sat in the upper-80s with the Angels, down from the mid-90s he flashed during his peak with the Blue Jays. That's not a mechanical tweak away from getting fixed — that's a pitcher who physically isn't the same guy anymore.
After getting optioned and then outrighted off the 40-man roster, Manoah went to Triple-A Salt Lake and things got even uglier. Over 10 starts he posted a 16.14 ERA with a wild walk rate to match, numbers that read more like a warning sign than a rehab stint. He also underwent Tommy John surgery back in June 2024, which helps explain the diminished stuff.
It's a wild fall from where this guy was just a few years ago. Manoah was a bona fide ace in 2021 and 2022, running a 2.60 ERA over 300-plus innings and finishing 3rd in AL Cy Young voting that second season. Since 2023, though, he's carried a 5.67 ERA across stops with multiple organizations. The Angels experiment was supposed to be the reclamation story — instead it's just another data point in the decline.
Manoah is a free agent now at 28, and someone will probably take a flier on him given the name recognition and the theoretical upside if the arm strength ever comes back. But at this point it's not about talent evaluation anymore, it's about whether the surgically repaired arm can find its old life. The Angels clearly decided it wasn't worth the roster spot to find out.