Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has been relentless in claiming players off of waivers in 2025. From a former All-Star closer to fringe players you've never heard of before, it's been hard for a player to go unclaimed by the Braves.
So when the Toronto Blue Jays designated 2023 All-Star Alek Manoah for assignment, it seemed inevitable that Atlanta would jump at the chance for another reclamation project. Sure enough, on Friday afternoon, the club added the righty to the 40-man roster.
Alek Manoah just became the Braves latest fringe waiver claim
Just a few years ago, it seemed like Alek Manoah would become a face of Major League Baseball. In 2022, at 23 years old, Manoah put up a 3.22 ERA in 111.2 innings, finishing eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The following year, the big righty was an All-Star, finishing third in Cy Young voting and 17th in MVP voting after ending the season with a 2.24 ERA in 196.2 innings.
However, since then, it's all been downhill. In 2023, Manoah was so bad in the first half of the season that the Blue Jays sent him to rookie-ball, where he immediately allowed 11 runs in his first game. He eventually rejoined the Blue Jays major league squad, but still finished the season with a 5.87 ERA in 87 innings.
In 2024, Manoah missed the first month of the season with shoulder inflammation. In his first start of the season, he allowed six runs to the Nationals. He'd pitch better in his next four starts before his season abruptly ended at the end of May when he tore his UCL.
In his first rehab start in 2025, the 27-year-old allowed three runs in 0.1 innings in the FCL. His subsequent rehab starts were better from a run prevention standpoint, but his high walk rate and middling strikeout rate were enough to keep the Blue Jays from adding him to the big league roster once his rehab assignment ended.
This season, Manoah has a 3.96 ERA in 38.2 innings, but a 5.86 FIP. Toronto cut him earlier this week when Anthony Santander was activated from the 60-day IL.
Manoah has a lot to prove going into 2026, but he might not get a chance to prove himself on the Braves. Despite the waiver claim, Manoah will be entering his second year of arbitration, having made $2.2 million this season. There's a chance the Braves front office simply non-tenders him and attempts to re-sign him to a minor league contract.
Either way, with three games left in the 2025 season, this was a low-cost flier for a Braves organization that is looking to find bargain bin additions for the 2026 season.