Cloud Hangs Over Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes

The anticipated callup of troubled outfield prospects Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes from AAA Durham to Tampa Bay had been murmured so plainly and so often that it seemed almost palpable as recently three weeks ago. And yet at the moment of consumation, the transactions seemingly have vaporized as Dukes finds himself suspended for continuing disciplinary problems and on the verge of losing his career before it has started, and Young continues to languish in the Carolina Piedmont. What is most troubling about Young's case is that Young was supposedly ahead of Dukes, and was rumored to have been readying for a callup as recently as Aug. 1. Yet as the team returns for a two-week homestand, no news appears to be very bad news indeed.