Dukes dealt to Nationals

Posted Dec 3, 2007 by Marc Lancaster

Updated Dec 3, 2007 at 08:14 PM

NASHVILLE—The Rays have traded troubled outfielder Elijah Dukes to the Nationals for minor-league lefty Glenn Gibson.

The long-awaited trade ends Dukes’ tumultuous time with his hometown team, and the Rays were able to at least get something in return rather than just cutting him outright, as some had hoped the team would do earlier this year.

“We have been committed to providing Elijah the support needed to get his personal and professional life back on track,” Andrew Friedman said in a statement released by the team.  “He has made progress, and a logical next step is a change of cities and a fresh start for him and his family.”

Gibson, 20, was 4-3 with a 3.10 ERA for Vermont of the New York-Penn League last summer. He was the Nationals’ fourth-round pick in the 2006 draft. Baseball America rated him as having the best control and best change-up in the Nationals’ system and ranked him as Washington’s No. 8 prospect after this season. He is the son of former big-league pitcher Paul Gibson.

The Nationals released statements from a few team officials, and also one from Dukes. His reads:

“I am excited about getting a fresh start with an up-and-coming franchise like the Washington Nationals. It’s an important move for my career and gives me the chance to prove myself both on and off the field. I appreciate this opportunity and am looking forward to meeting the fans of Washington, D.C. as we move into a brand new ballpark.”

The Nationals had been the only rumored suitor for Dukes since the first inklings that he might be traded surfaced this summer, and it finally came together here. The Washington Post is reporting Dukes met with Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and president Stan Kasten this morning at another hotel in Nashville. The Nationals should have as good a recent scouting report on Dukes as anyone, considering their third-base coach Tim Tolman has served as Dukes’ manager with Licey in the Dominican Winter League.

“The decision to acquire Elijah Dukes was not a simple one,” Kasten said in a statement. “From a purely baseball perspective, all our evaluators agree he has the talent to be a quality major-leaguer. From a franchise standpoint, we want to make sure Elijah is determined to be a quality off-the-field contributor as well.

“Let me emphasize that though Elijah’s history may be very different from other players on our team, he will very definitely be held to the same high standards. We believe the Nationals’ clubhouse, manager, organization and fans give Elijah Dukes his best chance to succeed and grow.”

The 23-year-old Hillsborough High product saw his major-league debut season deteriorate into controversy that led to his exile from the Rays and baseball in general for the second half of the season. The Rays’ Opening Day center fielder, who homered at Yankee Stadium in the first official at-bat of his career, had seen his production tail off toward the end of May when his estranged wife NiShea accused him of threatening the lives of her and her children.

A series of messy situations followed and the Rays eventually pulled the plug on Dukes on June 22, a couple of days after he called a Tampa radio station while on a road trip in Arizona to defend himself and embarrassed the team with an on-air tirade. Dukes was optioned to the minors and placed on the temporary inactive list, where he would languish for the rest of the season.

Dukes ended up hitting .190 in 52 games for the Rays, and his 10 homers were tied with Josh Hamilton for the most among major-league rookies at the time of his demotion. Dukes remains an unquestioned talent, but his history of anger issues made him more trouble than he was worth to the Rays. Many in the organization believed Dukes would be better off playing somewhere other than his hometown, and now he’ll get a chance to do so.

“You can’t have a more dramatic wake-up call than he’s had, I don’t think, between what happened with us and what’s happened in his personal life,” said Rays manager Joe Maddon. “If it’s going to happen, it’s got to happen now, and I think he’s aware of that.”

The Rays also lost infielder Josh Wilson today. He was claimed off waivers from the Pirates. Depending on whether the player the Rays get back for Dukes is on the 40-man or not, the Rays will have at least one spot open on their 40-man roster, so they will be able to participate in Thursday’s Rule 5 draft.