A Fluid Situation

You can probably guess where this is going. According to the Nationals' PR staff, that is the state of the Elijah Dukes news conference -- or, I should say, the news conference regarding an unspecified matter, since no one will confirm officially that it involves Dukes -- that had been scheduled for 3 p.m. today. Or, I should say, RE-scheduled, after the original plan for a news conference tomorrow (which I mentioned in the notebook in today's .35 cent edition) was scrapped.

The Nationals, as we've stated before, are going to extraordinary -- I would dare say unprecedented -- lengths to protect Dukes, and these machinations may be part of it. There was some displeasure voiced in the Nationals' upper management about the fact the news of tomorrow's scheduled presser was leaked. As we speak, the Tampa-area media --for whom Dukes is a major story -- is trickling in. We'll find out soon whether it was all for naught.

Not much else to report. No sign yet of Guzman, Milledge or Ayala. Carry on.