The ticking timebomb that is Elijah Dukes

[John F]

So we're supposed to trade Rocco, from logic shown here, because of Dukes and the other outfielders we have right?

Dukes, by way of the incident reported in the Times this week, is as big a question mark for the teams longterm future than Rocco's Hamstring.

I mean it's a good thing in certain ways that this has come to light because the Team is going to do everything they can to get Elijah the help that he needs...

But still, this looks like another instance where management in the past went for talent and didn't regard anything else about the athlete. Dukes was already in hot water several times in HS but LaMar and company still drafted him. Talent only goes so far when you are unbalanced in the head.

[JoseA]

Devil Rays sick of Dukes?:

Rumor has it the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are open to trading troubled outfielder Elijah Dukes. He's just 22 and has show pop with 10 homers in 183 at bats.

He comes with baggage, however. Dukes is reportedly facing paternity issues with a sixth child born to a fifth different woman, the latest being a teenager who told police Dukes got her pregnant during consensual sex while she was a 17-year-old foster child at the home of Dukes' step-grandmother.

Article

Yikes! 5 kids already, imagine the child support he has to pay! He sounds like a guy that needs to get his act together.

Yes, he has shown talent , but other things outshadow it. He is batting below the Mendoza line too, he is hitting .191.

[ofhdhdy]

Wow, this guy is messed up. If he keeps having children at this rate not even his baseball salary will be able to cover child support, especially since he has had six of them with five different women. Good young player (average is very bad right now but he has talent) but I'm afraid he will probably be out of the Majors in a few years!

[John F]

He has talent but the thing is -- his life is corrupted. The Rays are shopping him supposedly in order to get him out fo the Tampa Bay metro area to give him a fresh start but it's really up to Elijah to want a fresh start and change his life.

I mean, Josh Hamilton had all the talent in the world but fell into a vicious circle of substance abuse with leech-friends pullign him down... He finally got his life in order to a degree adn got back into baseball but the Rays let him go to give him a true fresh start. And he's going to make a run for NL ROY with thanks to that.

[John F]

From the Tampa Tribune:

Dukes spoke rapidly, angrily and incoherently at times as the hosts occasionally tried to break in during his diatribe. The entire interview can be heard at the radio station’s Web site, 620wdae.com.

Here are exerpts from the interview:

Dukes on why he left Gilbert and whether he does believe he has an anger management problem:”I vowed when my father got locked up that I’d be the best father I can for my kids and I’d always be there for them. And that’s why I left her, because I know that if stayed with her, I’d eventually be in prison. Because she provoked me by hitting me. She done hit me across the head with picture frames and everything. You know what, I eat that because I told my kids that I would never go back to jail again for no domestic violence. I have made strides. Maybe I have a – I probably have an anger problem. But I’ve diminished my anger, and I know how to get rid of some of my problems to my anger. And she was one of my problems.”

Dukes on why he believes he hasn’t been in the Rays starting lineup since accusations surfaced that he had fathered a baby with the foster child:

“I am in a bit of a slump, because I’ve got all this other stuff going on. You know how hard it is to be away from your kids when you always been with your kids? Do anybody know how that feels? Ya’ll looking at all this other stuff. I could care less about what people say. What really hurts is I can’t be around my kids for a year. And that really hurt me, because you know what, I did everything I can.”

Dukes on whether he needs help, emotionally:

“Do I need help? No, I don’t need no help. Everybody needs guidance. Do I need guidance? Yeah, I need guidance. Sometimes you need somebody to talk to. But do I need help? No, I don’t need no help. How many times I ever shot someone? How many times I ever stabbed someone? How many times I ever beaten, brutally beaten somebody? Never.”

Dukes’ defiance:

“First of all, I have had a long … I grew up on the flipside of things. I didn’t grow up with no silver spoon in my mouth. I had to go through a lot to get to where I am today. Every time you get to the top, you always have those hyenas want to knock you down, as a lion.

“Right now, I have come a long way. You think back to where people said, you know what, I won’t make it. I’m here now. Did the people who said I wasn’t going to make it call me back and apologize? No. They try to find something else to knock me down with. But guess what? Nobody’s going to bring me down with all these accusations they making about me.”

[John F]

The Rays are reportedly none to happy Dukes catered to the hysteria by doing that radio call in show...

[JMUplayer]

The bad thing is to trade him now you get zero value. He does have talent and upside but there really isn't a good veteran presence like a Torii Hunter that can guide him.

At this point who knows what the right answer is.

[John F]

The problem also is that his presence isn't helping the Rays by distracting the team. There was an incident in the past I was thinking of in comparison -- from about 15 years ago. The New York Mets assembled the famed "Worst team money could buy" and things started to implode. Vince Coleman was outright fired -- not released, not DFA'ed or any of the other common terms we know -- for throwing firecrackers out of his car after a game and injuring fans. It was really a culmination of negative things going on with the Mets roster and this incident went too far.

The Rays are hurting in general with lack of vet presence on the team. Even if Carl Crawford is an even keel - he's not the long time pro that can shwo a kid the way. Not yet at least.

Dukes really has zero value unless he gets his life in order and unless the Rays send him to the minor sor suspend him officially -- he may not get the clue he needs to make changes. Even with all this negative publicity -- it doesn't get through until you hit rock bottom. Ask Josh Hamilton.

[Jester47]

And how does that move look now... Think how different things could look in we had Hamilton in right field...

Doesn't fix the bullpen but that much fixing might not be doable until the off season.

[John F]

Dukes is off the Rays Roster. The press still hasn't found out what is going on for sure -- has he been put on a restricted list or DFA'ed?

Regardless, team meeting has been scheduled for around now to discuss things among the players. There may be a press conference before tonights game begins.

[bedir than average]

Dukes is continuing to sit out

It Sounds Like Dukes Won't Return Soon

Why is it that they won't just deal him?
The Mariners have a similar situaiton in Julio Mateo and have stuck him in AAA where he is quite successful. Both players should be given a chance at an ML job.