Tribe Talk: Indians Engage In A Brief Flirtation With Improvement

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5. The most recent MRI of Grady Sizemore's elbow revealed a marked decrease in inflammation, prompting assessments that he could return in as little as 7-10 days and thus avoid surgery. While ideally everyone wants to see Sizemore back on the field as soon as possible, was avoiding surgery really the best choice for him?

Sizemore himself has said this past week that still, "there is a chance it could get worse". Do you think it is best to bring him back as soon as possible at all costs, or are you of the opinion that it would be better to opt for surgery to insure that the problem is completely eliminated?

Samantha Bunten: Obviously, everyone involved would prefer to avoid surgery for Sizemore at all costs. However, sometimes it is better to pay a little more up front in order to pay a lot less at the end.

Sizemore says he's feeling better, but that may just because he hasn't been putting any strain on the elbow at all since he first went on the DL. There is a good chance the problem will go right back to what it was as soon as he starts playing every day again.

It isn't too hard to envision Sizemore ending up right back on the DL in a few weeks and ultimately ending up on a surgeon's table anyway.

If he just had surgery now, it would be that much less time wasted and that much less time the Tribe would have to do without him.

I will be ecstatic if Sizemore comes back in a week or two and looks like his old self, but I wouldn't lay any money on it. I won't fault the Indians for putting off the surgery option for now, but that wouldn't be my choice.

Dale Thomas: Not being a medical professional, I might attribute the decrease in inflammation to resting the elbow.

This doesn't represent a cure to me. Put that arm back in motion full time and I suspect the problem will be back with a vengeance. If surgery truly repairs the problem, I say fix it and be done. I worry that without the surgery, the inflammation may become chronic.

Scott Miles: Kind of tough to say. I would think that you want to avoid surgery at all costs, and if it's healing on it's own, then great. But the Indians just need to make sure they err on the side of caution here.

When Grady says he's 100 percent ready, great. But I'd prefer not to see a timetable set one way or another and have him think that he NEEDS to be back in 7-10 days because that's when everyone says he should be back.

Just take your time, Grady, and get yourself better.

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