Aug 10th 2008 6:53PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)
They’re called the dog days of August for a reason. With the trade deadline in the books, major league teams are, barring a waiver trade, stuck with what they’ve got on the roster for the duration of the regular season. That means injuries, like the one suffered by Arizona’s Orlando Hudson in the photo to the right, will shape the pennant races much more than they have over the last four months.

Five teams in the hunt for a playoff spot got bad injury news in the last 24 hours. Here’s a look at who’s hurt and how each team will cope with the absence of a key player over the final seven weeks.

- The speedy Tampa Bay outfielder injured a tendon in his right middle finger on a check swing last night and was placed on the 15-day DL. The Rays are unsure how much time he’ll miss, but a Seattle trainer told him he could miss six-to-eight weeks. If he’s out that long, it could be devastating to their chances of holding off Boston in the AL East.Continue Reading