“Sucks it's not the Jays” - Fans gasp as Blue Jays DFA former All-Star pitcher in stunning late-season move

The Toronto Blue Jays made a few roster moves on Tuesday after their postseason qualification. The Jays designated former All-Star pitcher Alek Manoah for assignment in a surprising move.

Manoah, a 2022 AL Cy Young finalist was designated to make room on the 40-man roster for veteran slugger Anthony Santander. The former All-Star pitcher was rehabbing with Triple-A Buffalo after his season-ending elbow surgery last year.

Fans reacted to the surprising move with only five games remaining in the regular season.

"Really hope Manoah makes a bounce back somewhere else, sucks it’s not the jays but there wasn’t a spot for him on this team."

"There’s like 6 random dudes on the 40-man that they could’ve just dumped. I don’t understand why it had to be Manoah."

"Streets won't forget 2022 Alek Manoah."

"So instead of DFAing Ty, he goes on the IL for an insurance policy…not surprised by that. But the Manoah move is shocker, more to it I’m sure."

"Happy for Taters but was hoping for an Alek comeback next year."

Blue Jays manager Ross Atkins reflected on Alek Manoah's departure

Alek Manoah was considered the future ace in Toronto's rotation after his stellar 2022 season. However, injuries and lack of control, derailed his Blue Jays career. He didn't pitch for the Blue Jays since undergoing aommy John surgery last season ,and manager Ross Atkins talked about the "tough" decision to designate him.

"These are always tough decisions," Atkins said. "This just came down to a roster crunch, and I was feeling like this is the best decision for us to hold depth and support for this staff as we push forward in very important weeks. We chose others over him, obviously. So it was very tough, a very difficult decision. They always are."

Manoah finished third in AL Cy Young rankings in his sophomore year in 2022, after boasting a 16-7 record with a 2.24 ERA and 180 strikeouts over 196 2/3 innings.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash