Ryan Braun has missed the last two games, and he'll miss at least one more.  There's not a lot of clarity about his health situation--he sounds optimistic he'll be back on the field in a few days, but it's possible that his problems run deeper.  I can't get too interested in the details of injuries, so I'll leave that part of it up to those who want to hash it out.

But it does open up some questions we really didn't want to be asking.  What if Braun heads to the DL?  What if he's out for the season (or a substantial part of it)?

Obviously, any extended absence is a serious blow to the lineup.  Not only is Braun one of the best hitters on the team--he leads Brewers regulars with a 137 OPS+--but the rest of the lineup looks a little more toothless without him.  Sure, guys like Hart and Branyan can hit, but a Kapler-Fielder-Hart, or Hall-Fielder-Hart middle of the order just isn't the same.

If the injury sends Braun to the DL, but there's good reason to think he'll be back before the end of the month, I'd be surprised to see the team make any serious moves.  Kapler has filled in nicely, Branyan (and even Hall) can play left, and I wouldn't be shocked to see Ray Durham out there.  (I don't endorse it, but I wouldn't rule it out.)

Not only that, but a DL move opens a roster spot for a replacement.  The logical callups, I suppose, are:

• Joe Dillon: remember it was last August he impressed us so much, and since he's been on the team this year, he's the easiest guy for Ned to add to the mix.
• Laynce Nix: he's OPSing almost 900 at Nashville, and is sort of Branyan without the walks and the major league track record.  I'm skeptical, because he was a lot better the first two months of the season than he has been since; his June and July OBPs were .298 and .310, respectively.  One plus is that he's a solid defender in a corner.
  
• Brad Nelson: he's probably not great shakes with the glove, but he has played quite a bit in left.  I think he's my pick among these three, because he's nearly as powerful as Nix, but has a nearly .400 OBP.  He's also swooned some the last couple of months, though.

Nothing too exciting there.  I doubt it would matter much, since if it's a short-term injury, Kapler will be the guy. 

What if, heaven forbid, Braun is out for most of the rest of the season?

As exciting as Kapler has been at times, there's no way he's the left fielder of a potential championship team (at least not this one) for two months.  Nor is anybody else in the fold right now.  Now that it's August, the trade market is much more constrained, but I've scanned the rosters of out-of-contention teams looking for possible replacements who have likely cleared waivers:

• Shannon Stewart ...just released by the Blue Jays...basically he's another Kapler.
• Aubrey Huff ...having a solid (302/360/550) season for the Orioles.  We could do worse.
• Raul Ibanez ...on the block before the deadline; the Mariners should want to get rid of him.  He's also having a decent year (286/350/483), but he's a major liability with the glove.
• Randy Winn ...Stewart, only more expensive.

Blech.  Huff's really the only option that could come close to replacing Braun's offense, and we'd sacrifice some defense plugging him in over Kapler or Nix.  He's also signed for $8MM next year, so we'd basically be borrowing him just to find a taker in the offseason.  That's not going to happen.

Of course, there's always the nuclear option.  Barry Bonds is on the market.  The man can hit.  If Braun is out for the season, I will pound the Bonds drum until you're so sick of hearing about it you'll want to go back to getting your Brewers commentary from Haudricourt.  But I realize it's far fetched.

Exercises like this are always interesting, especially after the trade deadline.  Let's hope this one is only an exercise.

So now it's eight in a row, the longest undefeated road trip since 1999, and three come from behind wins in four days. Still, drink with cautious optimism.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Jim Powell says the Brewers are coming home off of The Greatest Road Trip Ever.

Doug Melvin says he's not interested in acquiring George Sherrill. Did he say it before or after reading Jeff's post on the subject? We may never know.

On injuries:

Erik Bedard has an internal impingement in his shoulder. There's no structural damage but it could lead to some.
Kerry Wood finally hit the DL with his blister problems, but will be eligible to return Tuesday.

This is the problem with the lack of transparency Major League Baseball shows at times: Bud Selig fined the Cubs $500,000 for "violations involving the draft" but never specified exactly what the Cubs did wrong. Then, the Cubs removed Selig friend (and Brewer part-owner) John Canning from the list of candidates to purchase the team. Now Ivy Chat, among others, is suggesting the Cubs are being punished for eliminating Canning from the running. Is this likely the case? No. Will suspicions like this continue to come up until MLB does a better job of conducting business in the sunlight? Absolutely.

Bronson Arroyo would rather stay in Cincinnati than go play for a contender, and he's publicly calling out the Reds' management to keep him. I don't ever recall seeing a player publicly ask to stay on a losing team.

Of course, Johnny Estrada won't get that option: the Nats DFA'd him yesterday.

Jimmy Rollins was a late scratch from last night's Phillies game, because he was also late to the ballpark.

This one surprised me in a big way: DRaysBay is conducting a poll and 66% of the 171 participating voters think the Rays should sign Barry Bonds.

Oh, and I didn't think I'd like a story involving a Padres fan, a cute girl and hot sauce, but this is pretty funny.

Drink up. The Mug is off for the weekend but returns Monday.

Now I remember what life was like in the late '90s, when winning was a nice surprise. Not only did they somehow manage to sneak out a 9th inning win against a first place team, they did it while wearing the accursed retro jerseys.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Michael Hunt is calling for the end of the Yost Era. It'd be more interesting if it came from someone relevant or well informed. But I'll take what I can get. This Yost quote from a later article, however, I refuse to tolerate: The people who know the game. Those are the people who support Ned. And if you don't support Ned, it's because you don't know what's going on. I usually try not to be outright inflammatory in this space, but after that line, the gloves are off. Arrogant crap like that is the biggest reason why Ned Yost shouldn't even be allowed to manage a Wendy's.

Moving along: Yovani Gallardo will have surgery soon to repair his torn ACL. The timetable suggests to me that there's no chance he'll pitch again before next spring. If there was a chance, they wouldn't have waited this long for surgery and the current timetable would be more specific than "sometime next week."

With Gallardo out, there's a possibility that Seth McClung could get an opportunity to start at some point this season. Al notes that his numbers out of the bullpen, when you remove one bad mop up appearance, are pretty impressive.

Only two injury notes today: Reds reliever Kent Mercker is on the DL with a strained lower back and Twins reliever Pat Neshek, who left Thursday's game with pain in his elbow, has torn ligaments and will miss the rest of 2008.

As noted in the fanposts, Kevin Mench is back in the big leagues with the Blue Jays.

Richie Sexson, on the other hand, has been suspended for six games for charging the mound and throwing his helmet Thursday night.

The Padres have released Jim Edmonds. Here's a question to discuss in the comments: Of Barry Bonds, Kenny Lofton and Jim Edmonds, which could make the biggest difference to a contending team?

Reportedly, Peter McGowan is getting ready to step down as president and managing partner of the Giants. By itself, that wouldn't really be Mugworthy, but the first line of this post at El Lefty Malo was just strange enough to catch my eye: Huh? I must need another Mug. The Mug is off tomorrow but will return Monday. Drink up.