Brewers’ Fielder unhappy with contract

Associated Press

Last update: March 2, 2008 - 10:15 PM

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Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder, third in NL MVP voting last season, renewed his contract for $670,000 on Sunday, but the 23-year-old first baseman wasn’t happy about it.

Fielder said there are “a lot of guys who have the same amount of time that I do who have done a lot less and are getting paid a lot more. But my time is going to come. It’s going to come quick, too.”

Fielder will be eligible for arbitration after this season. He led the NL with a franchise-best 50 home runs last year and had 119 RBI.

General Manager Doug Melvin said he hoped the strife didn’t affect the club’s ability to attempt to negotiate a long-term deal.

“Prince is going to make a lot of money in this game,” said Melvin, who acknowledged the Brewers do not have a long-term deal on the table for Fielder.

Left fielder Ryan Braun, the NL Rookie of the Year last season, had his contract renewed for $455,000. The Brewers also renewed right fielder Corey Hart’s contract, for $444.000.

Cubs’ Soriano injured
Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano will miss up to five days after he fractured his right middle finger while working on fly ball drills.

Piniella apology
Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella apologized for comments he made about starting pitcher Jason Marquis following Saturday’s game against Los Angeles Angels.

Marquis had suggested he fits best as a starter and threatened to play elsewhere. “Well, if that’s the case, he can go somewhere else. How’s that?” Piniella said.

Piniella said he wasn’t expecting Marquis’ comments and it “sort of surprised me. But I should have handled it better, and I apologize.”

Laker regrets drug use
Former catcher Tim Laker expressed remorse for his use of steroids. Laker was among more than 80 current and former players named in steroids investigator George Mitchell’s report.

Laker, serving as a roving catching instructor for the Cleveland Indians this spring in Florida, said he injected steroids weekly for a few months in the late 1990s. He played for five teams during a 13-year career.

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