PAY THE MAN

Here are the raises being requested by the four arbitration eligible Brewers:

• Todd Coffey - 206%
• Carlos Villanueva - 140%
• Corey Hart - 48%
• Dave Bush - 11%

Carlos Gomez avoided arbitration by signing for a 151% raise, as did Rickie Weeks for a 12% raise.  Claudio Vargas gets a 125% raise this year.  Craig Counsell will get an extra 110% and Prince Fielder an extra 62% added to their paychecks.  Ryan Braun gets 34%, Trevor Hoffman 33%, and Jody Gerut 13%.

Once the arbitration dust settles, as a group all of the players listed here will cost the Brewers between 43% and 52% more than they did last season.  These are certainly troubled economic times in which we live, aren't they?