Hype

On Monday, an MLB.com story described outfielder Jarred Kelenic, just traded from the Mariners to the Braves, as someone who “has not lived up to the great expectations that surrounded him when he was the top prospect the Mets used to acquire Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz from the Mariners after the 2018 season.” What a change in tune. Here's the website on 3-2-20: Did Kelenic go full Bambino for first homer? Do a search, and MLB.com couldn’t say enough about Kelenic, until the stats (career .204 BA over three seasons, with thirty-two homeruns and 109 RBIs) indicated it was time to take a step back, that, or find someone else to ballyhoo. That’s the thing about MLB.com—it’s all hype all the time. Once upon a time, that included Jarred Kelenic. Now, the superlatives get heaped on Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. The real irony is that the website comes out of the commissioner’s office, and the commissioner exists to serve the owners first, as evidenced by the website treatment of the 2021-2022 lockout. But the owners are a dumb lot, seemingly oblivious to the fact that media attention drives up the value of players, which in turn drives up their cost. If Ohtani scores an out-of-this-world contract, don’t blame him. The owners made it possible. And, if Jarred Kelenic feels a little bit used, he was, by MLB.com.