Gallagher: Manoah extension not likely until after ‘23 season
Former No. 1 pick Alek Manoah will become the Toronto Blue Jays’ youngest Opening Day starter when they begin their season against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
March 24, 2023
By Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
The way Alek Manoah’s agent Jeff Randazzo is talking, there will be no long-term extension for his client prior to the coming season.
And it’s no big deal. Here it is March 24 and usually these kinds of extensions take place midway through spring training or prior to the start of the regular season.
In the case of the Blue Jays, their season opener is March 30 in St. Louis, an occasion that sees Manoah listed as Toronto’s starting pitcher. It’s his first start in a season opener. Quite an honour for their big ace.
So it would appear the Blue Jays, Manoah and Randazzo won’t talk about an extension until the end of the 2023 season. But who knows? That could change.
“Alek is a pre-arbitration player so there is no hurry,” Randazzo told me in a phone interview. “They have not made an offer and we haven’t made an offer. Nothing is going on. We’re looking forward to having Alek have a great season.’’
Randazzo volunteered to say “I had to laugh’’ at a recent report that indicated talks on a long-term deal were not going good.
Manoah is slated to earn $745,650 this season in a scenario where his contract was renewed and not signed/accepted by Manoah’s camp. According to the Cot’s Contracts website, Manoah will earn $353,100, if he spends time in the minors.
It’s anticipated that if Manoah stays with Toronto the entire 2023 season in the majors, he may become a Super 2 arbitration-eligible player next winter. His current service time is listed as one year, 130 days, according to Baseball Reference.
It should be remembered that Manoah received $2.1-million a few months ago from a pool set aside for pre-arbitration players so he’s doing okay financially.
Danny Gallagher’s new Expos book Around The Horn is available at Amazon.