So begins the Jasson Dominguez hype

Long long ago, in a Yankiverse not very far away, the Bombers signed a 16-year-old Latino named Jackson Melian to an ungodly amount of money, opening the floodgates to a modern hype machine. He was a publicist's dream: Named "Jackson" by a Yankee-fan dad who who loved Reggie, and called "Millions" by announcer Bobby Murcer, referring to the money shelled out to sign him. Then, for about five miserable years, I followed him in every single box score, awaiting his arrival. Spoiler alert: It never came.

I should note a tragic story about Jackson Melian. Because he was so young, his parents moved to America with him and traveled to every minor league game, driving ahead of the team bus. One night, they were killed in a terrible car accident. The story goes that coaches and teammates saw the wreckage and recognized his parents' car. As whispers passed down the bus, the whole team knew, but Melian was sleeping. I've often imagined being on that bus, knowing the incredible pain that someone - maybe your competitor for playing time - was about to feel, and being helpless to do anything.

I remember that story whenever I think of Melian. It reminds me that 1) Every player has a heartbreak, 2) At the end of the day, potential doesn't buy you dogfood, and 3) Young prospects, however they turn out, don't deserve to be mocked. It's that brutal, evil hype machine that deserves our venom.  

Since Melian, that machine has raised and shredded several future superstars, each of which had an angle for easy derision. Jose Tabata's wife was old enough to be his mom. Ruben Rivera supposedly stole Jeter's glove. Jesus Montero ate too many ice cream sandwiches. Alphonso Soriano - who actually had a nice career - turned out to be a few years older than advertised. Even Aaron Judge sometimes suffers from comparisons to that player we imagined, the one who lives in our fantasies and nowhere else.

The latest kid is Estevan Florial, who hit spring training last March like a jailbreak, running wild on the bases. Unfortunately, he can't seem to put his bat on the ball - hitting .236 in his second season at Tampa. A. Florial is still considered a hot prospect - he'll turn 22 two Mondays from now - but, as Yogi would say - it's getting late early.

Which brings us to the next marquee Yankee prospect: Jasson Dominguez, a 5'11", switch-hitting CF with sprinter's speed and tape-measure power. Baseball America has given him "insane" ratings. (I hate such descriptions; do people have to do that?) He's been christened a teenage Mike Trout, compared to Bryce Harper at 16 and - in the most dangerous lines of all - evoked memories of another switch-hitting CF, the one who ruled my childhood. Dominguez received the highest signing bonus in Yankee history. As a result, the Death Star will surely get its money's worth in hype.

And don't get me wrong: When it comes to hope, I'm all in. It's been a while since the Yankees had a Top 5 MLB prospect, and this might be one. I will follow this guy beginning with the rookie leagues, celebrating every hit, because they all look the same in the box scores. And if the recent World Series showed anything, it's that kids aged 20-21 - Juan Soto! - come of age earlier than ever before. 

But when the hype machine revs on this guy - as it's about to do - here's a thought: On this website, even if it's the only website in the world to do it, let's accept Jasson Dominguez for what he is: A 16-year-old kid who has a long, long way to go in a Yankiverse not very far from here.