In trying to reinvent “Sunday Night Baseball,” ESPN had a bigger and more accomplished TV star in mind than Alex Rodriguez to do its primetime game of the week.
Shortly after the Astros-Dodgers World Series ended in November, then-ESPN president John Skipper had a meeting with Bob Costas to gauge if the 65-year-old would be interested in putting a bow on his Hall of Fame baseball broadcast career by calling Sunday night games, sources told The Post.
It was one meeting and it ended up going nowhere, but it displayed how much ESPN wanted to add star power to its booth to try to goose interest. ESPN would zero in further on Rodriguez as the main analyst, which, in turn, complicated the play-by-play spot that Skipper had put in front of Costas.
ESPN’s pursuit of Rodriguez began around last July’s All-Star break with the network already having eyed A-Rod to replace then-“Sunday Night Baseball” analyst and now-Yankees manager Aaron Boone, according to sources.
A little more than a month after Costas’ November meeting, Skipper unexpectedly resigned, citing substance addiction as the reason, but the company’s interest in Rodriguez didn’t wane.
In turn, A-Rod had great leverage, allowing his agent, Jon Rosen, to shoehorn another of his clients, Matt Vasgersian, into the play-by-play role, according to sources. Vasgersian was a qualified candidate but one who, while on ESPN’s radar, was not atop its “SNB” list.
Vasgersian received the job over longtime ESPNers Jon “Boog” Sciambi and Karl Ravech, as well as the voice of the Yankees, Michael Kay, according to sources.
It was the understanding of ESPN executives that Rodriguez and Vasgersian were a package deal, though it is unclear why A-Rod would care. The Big Lead described Vasgersian as A-Rod’s “preferred” candidate in early January, but there is no clear motive, other than the commonality of their agent. The duo have never called a game together and have had no known friendship.
A longtime friend of Rodriguez shot down the idea that A-Rod wanted Vasgersian and only Vasgersian.
“A-Rod cares about A-Rod,” the friend said.
Rodriguez and Rosen, according to sources, were infatuated with Rodriguez becoming, in their eyes, the first analyst to be shared by two top networks on one sport.
Though the premise is off, to them it was a Holy Grail to convince Fox to let A-Rod work the acclaimed postseason studio show and ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” showcase. (A current example of a forerunner is Bill Raftery, who serves as the lead college analyst for Fox Sports and CBS, which includes calling the Final Four.) No matter the case, A-Rod ended up receiving a new, four-year deal with Fox to work the postseason studio, while becoming the face of ESPN’s Sunday broadcast. He also makes appearances on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and “Good Morning America,” among other TV projects.
If Rodriguez and ESPN had failed to reach an agreement on Sunday night, then ex-Cub and “Dancing With The Stars” finalist David Ross was expected to be offered the analyst job next to Jessica Mendoza, according to sources. Eduardo Perez also would have received consideration.
ESPN talked to Joe Girardi’s representative, but, with Girardi having bored everyone for a decade in the Bronx, that never seemed like a strong idea to take nationally.
The coveted play-by-play position opened when Dan Shulman decided to cut back on his schedule last summer. The plan all along was to keep Mendoza as an analyst in a revamped, three-person booth. Buster Olney will stay as the dugout reporter.
There is somewhat of a divide as to who would have received the job if Vasgersian didn’t have Rodriguez’s agent push him across the goal line. Sciambi has a big voice and is more of a classic play-by-player, while Kay would have been hired to give the game of the week a more conversational tone. Ravech is a seasoned studio guy and was seen as the early leader for the Sunday play-by-play job.
While Costas is basically retired from NBC Sports, he will continue to call 20 to 22 games on MLB Network and host other specials, while possibly adding a yet-to-be-determined interview series or show in the near future.
Kay, besides being the Yankees’ voice, hosts his own talk show in the afternoons on 98.7 ESPN New York. If he had gotten the Sunday ESPN job, he still would have remained on the Yankees telecast and talk radio.
Sciambi is remaining the radio voice of “Sunday Night Baseball” and does ESPN TV for “Wednesday Night Baseball.” Ravech will continue as the “Sunday Night Baseball” host, “Monday Night Baseball” play-by-player and college basketball play-by-player.
But, in all of this, it is A-Rod who unsurprisingly will face the most scrutiny. While far fewer viewers watch “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN than Fox’s playoffs, Rodriguez will be on 25-plus regular-season games. There is a lot of preparation for Sunday nights, but it is still around 100 or more hours of ad-libbing. A-Rod has only called three games in his life. Mendoza is starting just her third full season. Mendoza, an Olympic gold medalist softball player, is best on hitting, which A-Rod also knows a thing or two about. That leaves Vasgersian, who is by far the most experienced broadcaster of the trio and who was Fox Sports’ No. 3 MLB play-by-player, with the job of making the booth work.
As for A-Rod, he has the platforms to be the Charles Barkley of baseball if he can prove he has the wit, insight and charisma to pull it off.