Have injuries and disappointing seasons in the minors stalled the White Sox rebuild? Perhaps not. But it’s certainly made it more complicated.



It’s difficult to translate the months spent rehabbing elbow ligaments into a precise number of months or years Sox contention has been delayed, or just how many millions of dollars more will need to be spent to render those concerns moot. The clearest way to quantify the impact is looking at the 40-man roster heading into this offseason.



With four players on the 60-day injured list, the White Sox actually have 44 players for 40 slots. That’s a riddle to be solved on its own, but the larger existential issue is that they’ll need a 26-man Opening Day roster, and built-in depth behind it. The number of spots on the 40-man roster they have to set aside to protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft who are not ready to help in the majors, squeezes their 40-man depth, and does not seem to be...