Reading Between the Baselines: Dukes will be a Big Leaguer

There’s no doubt in my mind that five years from now, Elijah Dukes be a player who fantasy owners are targeting in the early rounds of their drafts. Fans will be wearing his jersey. Collectors will be gathering signed rookie cards. His name will be punched on all-star ballots.

It’s not like Dukes, 22, has battled drug addiction, been suspended for using performance enhancing drugs, or corked his bat. His problems have been centered on getting along with his teammates and coaches.

Shouldn’t it be noted that the entire Durham Bulls’ coaching staff was fired following the 2006 season? It’s a two-way street.

Yeah, Dukes probably deserves some – and then another serving or two – of the blame, but he has tried to coexist. And he has made efforts to be a good member of his community.

“I'm all in-house during the season, so I haven't really been able to check out the city at all,” Dukes told Baseball America’s Chris Kline in late-April. “Eventually I'm going to try to get a vehicle up here and I like to try to visit some of the schools where kids aren't as fortunate as other kids. I like to go visit with them, tell them stuff about me and where I came from, visit the Boys and Girls Clubs and play ping-pong with them, stuff like that so they see that people in my situation are people too. That's definitely one thing I really like to do.”

The fact that Dukes is playing in the Arizona Fall League now and trying to learn a new position at least shows that his relationship with the Devil Rays hasn’t been completely derailed. Remember when Dukes said he may be done with baseball forever?

Sure, it’s tough to root for a guy who has gone down a path that makes you wonder if he will ever play in a big league ballpark. But how long can you ignore his talent? The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder is just one level away…one level.

Since being drafted in the 3^rd round (74^th overall) of the 2002 draft, Dukes has conquered four minor league levels while putting together a combined .284/.370/.454 vital line. He hit .293 with 44 walks to 47 strikeouts and an .889 OPS in 283 Triple-A at-bats last season (84.5% contact ratio).

I’m willing to predict that Dukes not only graduates to the big leagues next season but continues to show signs of developing into a hitter who will bat around .290 and hit 25+ home runs in his prime. A lot of teams could use that.

Adam Foster is looking forward to possibly having an opportunity to meet Elijah Dukes at the Arizona Fall League. If you have anything you’d like Adam to try to ask Elijah, you can email him at adamwfoster@gmail.com.