Hello Jay,

From Lastoria’s site, the Indians and Bryson don’t think the injury is as bad as first thought – if I recall correctly, they were thinking the labrum was shredded, but I think it was just inflammation and that there was a chance he’d return to game action, which he did.

However, I think it makes sense the Indians aren’t going to push Bryson too hard to finish off this season. Granted, Lake County is in the postseason, but it’s not worth risking further injury to Bryson’s shoulder just to have another strong reliever on Lake County’s postseason roster. If there was any doubt about Bryson’s health, that’s likely why he’s not pitching now.

Still, while that may not be good in the short-term, it doesn’t mean an offseason of rest won’t make him 100% or close to it for next season, especially if it was inflammation as I think the article suggested (the article was one of the more recent ones on Lastoria’s site, but I don’t have the link handy – if I have the chance, I’ll add it later). It’s better to shut him down now and not risk further injury than push him and perhaps have a long-term injury that might prevent him from being ready to go at the beginning of the 2009 season.

I agree that Bryson is important to that deal – Bryson has the makings of a good back-end reliever, if not possible closer, and with a player of CC’s magnitude, even if LaPorta turns out to be as great as expected (and that might be a bit unrealistic, as LaPorta may only turn out to be “pretty good,”) you’d still want a little more for arguably one of the best pitchers the Indians have ever had in their history, especially in their recent history (say the past 30 years or so).

Just my 2 cents.