A top left-handed pitcher on the No. 1 team in the country who's expected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick with a signing bonus of up to $2 million is not an Average Joe. However, the larger point is, you don't get to determine what defines a public figure or what is news. You just don't. None of us does.
Had his 5-year-old back story been about something heroic that he was too modest to discuss -- say, saving a young child from a sexual assault -- and it came to light through solid reporting for the profile The Oregonian had intended to run, you absolutely would have considered that not only newsworthy but a shining example of this young man's sterling character. That is, if you'd bothered to notice the story at all.
Instead, a sure-fire millionaire has slid through the first 10 rounds. Obviously, this news had value to his potential employers, some of whom knew it before the story broke. It wasn't about clicks. It was about the truth. Sorry you can't handle it.