The 8 games that separate 3rd place Chicago from first place Detroit in the AL Central standings would likely be a less insurmountable figure were White Sox OF Alex Rios and HD Adam Dunn (above) performing at levels even close to their career standards.  With his club obliged to pay the pair more than $26 million guaranteed  in 2012, skipper Ozzie Guillen tells the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley, “they did this to themselves,”… which is a nice way of letting Kenny Williams off the hook.

“Everybody learns from mistakes. Now they have to work. … I’m not going to say Rios. Rios works hard every day. But I think the stuff they need to do in the offseason, when you get older, you’ve got to work a little bit more, a little bit harder. They owe it to themselves,” Guillen said.

“I don’t think they should feel guilty about how much money they make, unless they want to. As the years go by, you get a little older, you have to take care of yourself a lot better.’’

“They should be embarrassed. They’re human beings, they want to do good, they have pride. I hear comments. I don’t talk to them about it, but they make comments and when they do I think they feel bad with how they played this year.’’