The San Francisco Giants' 3-1 victory clinched a world championship, ended the World Series and officially opened the start of hot stove season.

Eligible players become free agents at midnight today. In past years, players had to file for free agency but because of a change in collective bargaining rules, 142 eligible players automatically became free agents.

The Brewers have three such players: pitchers Dave Bush and Chris Capuano and infielder Craig Counsell.

Bush went 8-13 with a 4.54 earned run average this season, starting 31 games. In five years with Milwaukee, Bush posted a 46-53 record and a 4.80 ERA. For his career, Bush is 56-68 with a 4.54 record.

He signed a one-year, $4.22 million contract before the 2010 season.

Capuano returned from a second "Tommy John" surgery this season and slowly worked his way back into the rotation. In nine starts, Capuano went 3-3 with a 4.14 ERA. Overall, he worked 66 innings, finishing with a 4-4 record and a 3.95 ERA in 24 appearances.

The 40-year-old Counsell hit .250 (41-for-230) with two home runs and 21 runs batted in. He appeared in 102 games, starting 35, and hit .333 (13-for-39) as a pinch-hitter.

Counsell, a Whitefish Bay native, has played five seasons in Milwaukee (2004, 2007-10) and has hit .247 (398-1,611) with the Brewers.

Additionally, pitchers Trevor Hoffman and Doug Davis and catcher Gregg Zaun will become free agents if the team declines the options on those players' contracts.

Further changes in the collective bargaining agreement shorten the time teams have for exclusive negotiations with their own free agents from 15 days following the World Series to just five.