Floundering Dukes demoted to Syracuse

MIAMI | For official purposes, the Washington Nationals' decision to demote Elijah Dukes to Class AAA Syracuse on Wednesday was a baseball move. Dukes, unlike veterans Austin Kearns and Ronnie Belliard, has options and thus could be sent down without risk of another club claiming him. And as Nationals manager Manny Acta and acting general manager Mike Rizzo pointed out, the 25-year-old Dukes will get the kind of consistent playing time in Syracuse that wasn't available with Washington. There were, however, other factors at play: Dukes' continued struggles with maturity and attitude. The volatile outfielder reported late to Land Shark ... Email </a