Fox Sports is waiting to hear if YES’ Joe Girardi will join its broadcast team. ESPN thinks Dusty Baker could be a Baseball Tonight star. And SportsNet NY had Lee Mazzilli in Tuesday to talk about a job on Mets broadcasts.
Forget Daisuke Matsuzaka – baseball’s broadcasting hot stove already is churning some microwavelevel heat.
While YES struck first this week, signing Girardi for around 60 games, he could be headed to Fox Sports as well.
“We’re still talking,” Fox Sports VP Dan Bell said of Girardi, named this week as NL Manager of the Year even though he was fired by the Marlins after a dispute with ownership.
In an effort to rival Baseball Tonight and match newcomer Turner Sports’ big plans, Fox may either shift Kevin Kennedy from studio to games or rotate analysts, such as Girardi, to work with Kennedy in the pregame. Girardi also could analyze games.
Meanwhile, Baseball Tonight, looking to fill the hole created by the firing of Harold Reynolds, has its eyes on Baker, the fired Giants manager.
Like Girardi with Fox, Baker worked ESPN’s postseason and impressed executives there.
“I think Dusty Baker has a lot of potential,” ESPN Senior VP Norby Williamson said. “If he is not going to manage, I think he could a big player on this stage.” SNY is in the market for another studio analyst, as it is planning to further implement a three-man booth featuring Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez joining Gary Cohen. Though talks are in their early stages, Mazzilli is a possibility. SNY declined to comment specifically on its talks with Mazzilli. Last month, Mazzilli was fired as the Yankees bench coach.
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Due to family reasons, Cris Carter will not work Westwood One Radio’s Thursday-Saturday NFL package, as originally planned. Instead, at least for the five Thursday night games, Sam Wyche will join Dick Enberg in the booth.
Since Wyche, formerly an analyst on CBS and NBC, had a biopsy in 2000 that severed his vocal cord, diminishing his voice quality, it is a nice comeback story.
In New York, this announcing team has even more importance because the NFL Network is not on Time-Warner or Cablevision systems, which means that starting Thanksgiving night with Chiefs-Broncos, the only way non-satellite owners will be able to check out the game is on radio.
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While we remain of the opinion Monday Night Football doesn’t need any second-quarter guests, this Monday’s Giants-Jaguars game at least has someone relevant. Tiki Barber’s twin brother, Ronde, is expected to be in the booth.
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The Red Sox may have gotten Matsuzaka, but the Yankees may get Hartford’s WTIC. As The Post first reported in May, WTIC – a 50,000-watt radio station that has long been the home of the Red Sox – may go to the Yankees, which would be huge story in that region.
Locally, the Yankees are headed back to WCBS-880 AM, but one of the final details to be worked out will be if WTIC goes Yankee or remains Red Sox. WCBS and WTIC are both owned by CBS Radio.
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Mini-Memo: At halftime of Monday’s Knicks-Cavs game, MSG showed some of the on-court intermission entertainment. It was some guy leading a Simon Says game. MSG, Simon Says never do that again. Thanks.