White Sox Sign Alec Marsh To Minor League Deal

The White Sox have signed right-hander Alec Marsh to a minor league contract with an invite to major league camp in spring training. Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to report the deal. It’s an injury bounceback flier for the Sox. Marsh, 29 in May, was once a prospect of note with the Royals. Kansas City selected him with the 70th overall pick in 2019. Baseball America then ranked him as the club’s #23 prospect in 2020, before having him in the 10-15 range from 2021 to 2023. Marsh went to toss 203 1/3 innings for the Royals over the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, making 33 starts and ten relief appearances. He allowed 4.96 earned runs per nine. His 23.4% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate were around league average but he struggled with the long ball. He allowed 35 home runs in that time, a rate of 14.6% per fly ball. League average is usually 11-12% but Kauffman Stadium tends to be on the pitcher-friendly side. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since then. Heading into the 2025 season, Marsh experienced some soreness in his throwing shoulder. He began the campaign on the injured list with a shoulder impingement. He hit setbacks in his attempts to ramp up. He required labrum surgery in November of 2025 and spent the entire 2026 season on the IL. While spending 2025 and 2026 on the IL, Marsh racked up two full years of service time. When combined with his work in 2023 and 2024, he crossed the three-year line and qualified for arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $1.1MM salary in 2027 but the Royals didn’t want to give him a raise after his injury odyssey. He was outrighted off the roster last month and became a free agent. It’s hard to say what the White Sox can expect from Marsh going into next year. Chicago has needs in the rotation and in the bullpen and will surely make further moves to add pitching before the next campaign begins. It might be hard for Marsh to take on a starter’s workload after two entirely lost seasons. If he can get healthy and earn a roster spot, he has an option remaining, so perhaps he could serve in an up-and-down depth role. If he is holding a roster spot at the end of the 2027 season, he could be retained into the future via arbitration until he gets to six years of service time. Photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images View Comments (3)