Sean Manaea is expecting a respectable salary in free agency, and the veteran southpaw’s value to the wide field of suitors may have just increased.
The recent Dishes the starter surprisingly appeared on the Voting for Newfoundland and Labrador Cy Young Award on Wednesday, receiving just one fifth-place vote from Nobuhiro Saito, who covers the Los Angeles Dodgers for Nikkan Sports News. The singular vote tied the 32-year-old southpaw with NL East starters Aaron Nola And Reynaldo Lopez as the last three players on the ballot.
Manaea, who rejected the Mets’ one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer before Tuesday’s deadline, produced arguably his best season in the big leagues. While tying a career high in starts (32), he finished 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA and 1.084 WHIP in 181.2 innings. Manaea also had breakthrough outings in the postseason, posting a 2.65 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 17.0 innings.
The 2024 NL and AL Cy Young awards went to two lefties, as the Atlanta Braves veteran. Chris Sale and ace of the Detroit Tigers Tarik Skubal became first-time recipients. Sale received 26 of a possible 30 first-place votes, while Skubal’s nomination was unanimous.
Looking for a new multi-year contract, Spotrac currently puts Manaea’s market value at $64.5 million over four years, with an average annual value of $16.1 million.
