Ryan Braun is still a Milwaukee Brewer, free to visit with the team, work out and get his swings in. But, he must depart as soon as the gates to Miller Park open to the public, per the terms of his season-ending suspension by Major League Baseball handed down on Monday. His absence, in the lineup and in the game day aspects of the organization, however, is huge.

Francisco Rodriguez is gone now, too, as the veteran closer was shipped off to Baltimore Tuesday afternoon.

Things are changing for the Brewers, who fell to 41-58 with a 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres later that night.

"They’re going to be fine," Rodriguez said of his former teammates before he left Miller Park. "They’re going to be OK. I think this ball club, any ball club, will go through adversity, they’re going through one right now. But they’ll be fine. It’s going to be behind them in a week. A lot of stuff goes away. They’re going to be fine. They’re going to continue to play. The atmosphere will stay the same. It’s not like they have lost their confidence at all."

And, more changes can be expected. Reliever Michael Gonzalez will be a free agent. Fellow relievers John Axford, Brandon Kintzler, Jim Henderson and Burke Badenhop are under team control and relatively inexpensive. Starting pitchers Yovani Gallardo and Kyle Lohse are under contract for large dollars over the next two years, but are desirable, proven commodities.

That said…

"I’m not shopping our guys," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said after the Rodriguez trade. "I’m not out there shopping, saying this guy is available. I don’t have anybody, right now, that I’m doing that with. If teams have interest I have to listen."

After talking about the prospect received in return for Rodriguez – 21-year-old third baseman Nick Delmonico – Melvin pulled the curtain back on his mindset heading into the final week before the non-waiver trade deadline:

"We’ll continue to take phone calls at this point. We’re not in a position where we’re going to be out there. I want to make this clear. We were not going to trade K-Rod if we weren’t going to get what we thought was a good deal. And Baltimore got a good deal in getting K-Rod. This isn’t where we’re selling. I’m not a believer in buyers and sellers. I’m a believer in making a good deal. Deals that help both ball clubs are the best deals that work. When you’re ‘selling’ you’re just moving players because of salary. We don’t have to do that. We don’t have to do that. If we can make a trade that’s in the best interest of the organization, we’ll continue to look at that. We’re just not going to move players without making what we would consider good baseball trades."

Melvin considered Tuesday’s deal a "good baseball trade" because of where the Brewers scouting staff had rated Delmonico coming out of the University of Tennessee in the 2011 draft. Brewers first base coach Garth Iorg was familiar with Delmonico as well. They like the fact he played third, and that another left-handed bat was added to the farm system.

"He’s a young player that’s got some credibility and we really like his bat," Melvin said.

As for making future deals, especially with pitchers, Melvin reiterated he isn’t actively shopping or "motivated" to make a deal – especially when it comes to Gallardo and Lohse. But he acknowledged that the calls for quality relievers will only increase.

"The reason the reliever market is always hot at this time of the year is because pitchers wear down," Melvin said. "Starting pitchers wear down. Bullpens get used a lot. You saw the unfortunate incident with Pittsburgh (Monday night) with (Pirates All-Star closer) Jason Grilli – you’re only one pitch away from being short. In 2011, when we acquired K-Rod, a lot of people say why acquire K-Rod? You had John Axford that was closing everything out. But we don’t go to the postseason without K-Rod at that time. I’m a big believer that the bullpen is probably just as valuable as starters when you’re in the pennant race in August and September."

Melvin continued: "I think other general managers have their own philosophies, but I just feel that acquiring any kind of bullpen help – again – you get into pennant races where you’re playing teams in your division, you could have four to five games in a row that are going to be close ball games and you have a chance of wearing your closer out if you don’t have somebody that has that kind of experience that can close out ballgames for you."

With Melvin not feeling the need to trade players just for the sake of making a move – and a long history of avoiding truly blockbuster deadline deals – it’s impossible to predict that the trade of Rodriguez is the start of a total upheaval. It likely could be the only move made. But no matter what happens with the roster between now and the end of the trading period, Rodriguez is confident the team will remain together.

"They have the right pieces to bounce back," he said. "And they’re going to fight through the adversity."