A Def Leppard road case stands by backstage at Great American Ball Park on the Cincinnati stop of The Stadium Tour in downtown Cincinnati on Friday, July 15, 2022. Classic rock acts, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts played Great American Ball Park on the Cincinnati stop of The Stadium Tour. Credit: The Enquirer
MLBBy Ben Axelrod on

The MLB offseason is a time for hope.

And that hope is never higher than during the league’s Winter Meetings, where many of the league’s biggest deals get done.

So it was understandable that when multiple MLB teams posted social media videos teasing a “big announcement” that was coming on Thursday, the imaginations of their fans ran wild. And it was even more understandable that those same fans were disappointed when the announcement wound up being “The Summer Stadium Tour” featuring Journey, Def Leppard and Heart.

https://twitter.com/fromAkronOhio/status/1732778886352506974

 

While it might seem far fetched that a team would tease a free agent signing or trade on its social media account, that doesn’t mean that the announcement couldn’t have been something that would have been more exciting to baseball fans than a concert. With all due respect to Journey and Def Leppard, fans in Cleveland would have been more satisfied with clarification on the team’s TV rights deal or an alternate uniform — let alone the addition of a power hitter for the outfield.

In addition to the Guardians, the St. Louis Cardinals also teased the concert on their X (formerly Twitter) account before receiving blowback from their fans.

While some teams — like the Chicago Cubs — simply announced the concert without the “big announcement” tease, the best solution came from teams whose stadiums have their own social media accounts. Although the team accounts are the ones with the bigger followings, there’s nothing stopping them from reposting their stadium’s announcements, just as the Houston Astros’ account did with Minute Maid Park.

The response from Guardians and Cardinals fans will inevitably blow over — especially if either team makes a big acquisition in the weeks ahead — but this ultimately appears to be an unforced error. And if there’s a lesson to be learned in any of it, it’s to not tease a big announcement at a time in which Shohei Ohtani is still a free agent.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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