The Speedway Classic between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves wasn’t just supposed to be a showcase event for Major League Baseball but an opportunity to showcase one of its great young stars in Elly De La Cruz.

The Reds shortstop is nothing short of a phenom. He is already a two-time All-Star in his two full seasons with the Reds. And he is already writing his name in the record books. De La Cruz is the fastest player to reach 300 hits, 150 RBI, and 100 stolen bases and the first player since 1900 to record 115 extra-base hits and 115 steals in his first 300 games.

But the biggest issue isn’t the talent of Elly De La Cruz, it’s how little fans get to see him play on the national scene.

The Cincinnati Reds are never going to be confused with the big market spenders like the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers. The days of the Big Red Machine have long passed us by. And the team has not won a playoff series since 1995.

In talking about Elly De La Cruz on the pregame show for the Speedway Classic, MLB on Fox analysts Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, and Alex Rodriguez were effusive in their praise of the Dominican superstar. But in doing so they revealed one thing that MLB has yet to solve amidst an upswing in their business – how to gain momentum for big stars in small markets.

A-Rod: “Every element you appreciate about NASCAR, you appreciate about (Elly) De La Cruz… could be the best player in [MLB] for the next 15 years.”

Jeter: “[The Reds] need to get into the postseason so the rest of the baseball world can watch him.”pic.twitter.com/rooS6sCAzN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 3, 2025

“This is a kid, that is so much fun to watch,” Ortiz said. “You don’t see his name out there so much because he’s not playing in a big market. If he’s a guy that played for the Yankees, the Dodgers, even the Red Sox, he’d be on TV every day. And the most important thing, he’s a great kid.”

“This is what I hope. I hope for the baseball world, the Cincinnati Reds, whether it’s this year, next year, they need to get into the postseason so the rest of baseball world can watch. Because he’s fun to watch and like you’ve said, a lot of people don’t know about him. He’s sort of flying under the radar. He’s someone that everyone needs to see,” Jeter added.

Unfortunately for Major League Baseball, those plans to give Elly De La Cruz the national spotlight were drowned in a rainstorm of Biblical proportions and the evening turned into a bit of a disaster for fans in attendance.

This is the biggest dilemma facing Major League Baseball and the root of the polarizing labor issues that could come to a head soon, as we’ve already seen with the reported incident between Rob Manfred and Bryce Harper. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is enormous. And quite frankly, the Cincinnati Reds have not invested resources to build a contender in generations. It’s not quite Pittsburgh Pirates levels of sadness with Paul Skenes, but it’s in the same ballpark.

The Reds payroll is nearly three times below that of the Mets or the Dodgers. Why would fans nationally invest in De La Cruz or the Reds now when the reality is he is just playing out the string until he will sign a billion dollar contract with a big market team? Why would Reds fans (or any other small market team) invest in a player that they know is likely going to move on to a big market at the first opportunity?

Maybe MLB and its TV partners could do a better job putting the Reds on national television more throughout the season, but it’s just not a franchise that is taken seriously at the moment as sad as that is to say given their history and place in the sport.

Compare that to the NFL where its biggest stars and franchises are in places like Kansas City and Green Bay. Even the current NBA champions reside in Oklahoma City. And in today’s Major League Baseball, those dreams of parity and opportunity for every franchise and its fans are a fantasy.