Angels’ Failed Alek Manoah Experiment Exposes Another Problem for Mariners’ Rival

The Angels have already pulled the plug on Alek Manoah, and that feels about right for the way this whole experiment was set up. Los Angeles outrighted Manoah to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers, opening a spot on the 40-man roster and turning a one-year, $1.95 million offseason flier into a pretty blunt reminder of how these comebacks usually work.

They sound great in the offseason. You sign a former All-Star and former Cy Young candidate. Still only 28. Maybe a new organization finds something and the arm bounces back. Maybe not.

Then the season starts, and all that optimism comes to a screeching halt.

Manoah can technically elect free agency. However, because he has more than four years of service time and fewer than five, he would have to give up the rest of his guaranteed salary to do it. So the likelier outcome is that he stays in the Angels’ system and tries to rebuild from Triple-A, which is a long way from where this story used to live. A few years ago, Manoah was a big arm in the American League the Mariners had to deal with. Now he’s fighting to prove he still belongs on a 40-man roster.

For the Mariners, this is definitely not about Seattle having any interest. There is no reason for them to inherit that mess. This is about a division rival trying to build real innings out of damaged arms. Sometimes that works. Most of the time, it looks exactly like this.

Manoah’s career already feels like it has lived three different lives. There was the arrival, when he looked like a future fixture in Toronto’s rotation. There was the peak, when he went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA, 180 strikeouts and a 0.99 WHIP across 196 2/3 innings in 2022. And then there has been everything since.

Seattle saw enough of prime Manoah to understand the temptation. He made three starts against the Mariners with Toronto, posting a 3.57 ERA with 20 strikeouts over 17 2/3 innings. But that is also the trap. The Angels were betting on the memory, not the evidence in front of them.

Alek Manoah's final line vs. the Dodgers

1.1 IP, 6 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 59 P pic.twitter.com/XRAlw7xs2u
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 17, 2026

The Angels Were Chasing the Version of Manoah That May No Longer Exist

The important piece here is how much baseball he has lost trying to get back from his 2024 elbow injury.

Manoah had shoulder inflammation at the start of 2024, then later suffered a right UCL injury that ended his season. Since then, he hasn’t been able to get right.

Manoah’s brief Angels stint produced a 9.82 ERA, eight walks, five strikeouts and a 2.18 WHIP in 7 1/3 innings.

The Angels’ pitching plan too often feels like a thrift-store challenge. Manoah is the easiest example because the collapse is so visible. Since that brilliant 2022 season, he has gone 4-11 with a 5.42 ERA over 30 major league appearances.

This shows what happens when a name outpaces the current reality. Manoah still sounds like someone who should matter. But the present version hasn’t given anyone enough reason to trust the old one is coming back.

And the Angels are not stopping with Manoah, either. Grayson Rodriguez made his Angels debut after opening the season on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, and his first start went about as poorly as possible. Rodriguez allowed seven runs on seven hits and four walks over 3 2/3 innings against the Dodgers, striking out four in a 10-1 loss.

Not saying Rodriguez is cooked. But paired with Manoah’s quick outright, it does make the Angels’ approach feel awfully familiar. Take the former high-end arm. Hope the medical file no longer defines them. Ask the talent to outrun the risk and then act suddenly surprised when the rust, command and workload concerns show up.

The Angels keep searching for the pitcher a guy used to be. The Mariners, for all their own roster headaches, have at least been better at building around who their pitchers are now.

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