Once viewed as the future of the Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching staff, right-hander Alek Manoah is joining the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year, $1.95 million major-league deal, the club announced. The 2022 American League All-Star will attempt to resurrect a career stalled by injuries and bouts of wildness.

OFFICIAL: The Angels have agreed to a one-year contract with RHP Alek Manoah. pic.twitter.com/Vq3RzGjtsT

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) December 2, 2025

Manoah, who will turn 28 in January, hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2024, when he was still with the Blue Jays. He began his professional career with Toronto as its 2019 first-round pick, and he zoomed through the minor leagues, debuting in the majors in May 2021. The West Virginia alum went 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA and was worth 2.9 bWAR in a rookie season that comprised 20 starts and 111 2/3 innings. Manoah finished eighth in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting.

The next season, Manoah established himself as a bona fide star, finishing third in the AL Cy Young Award voting after a 6.0 bWAR season that included 16 wins, a 2.24 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 196 2/3 innings. He threw 5 2/3 innings in a wild-card start for the Blue Jays that October.

Expected to be Toronto’s ace in 2023, Manoah instead stumbled badly out of the gate, posting a 6.36 ERA through 13 starts to begin the season before the club demoted him to the minor leagues. His stay in the minors was rocky, but he returned to the majors on July 7, pitching well initially before heading back to the minors a month later. Manoah wouldn’t pitch again at the major-league level for the rest of the 2023 season.

He came into spring training in 2024 competing for a spot in the Blue Jays’ rotation, but began the season in the minors. He debuted with the Jays in early May, but after five starts, he exited a start with a UCL sprain and eventually had Tommy John surgery. Manoah returned to the minor leagues last season, and the Blue Jays designated him for assignment during the final week of the regular season. The Atlanta Braves claimed him off waivers, but he didn’t appear in a game at any level for Atlanta before the club designated him for assignment and granted him free agency this offseason.

Manoah joins a staff in rebuilding mode after the Angels posted the third-highest team ERA in baseball in 2025.