ESPN will consider breaking up its “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast team, The Post has learned.
Alex Rodriguez is safe, according to sources. With one more year on his ESPN deal, A-Rod will be back, no matter who else is in the booth.
The rest of ESPN’s trio, play-by-player Matt Vasgersian and analyst Jessica Mendoza, have a 70% chance of returning, according to sources. But ESPN will look around, seeing if it is worth trying to upgrade its booth even as ratings were slightly improved on the Sunday telecasts in the trio’s second season.
Mendoza, the Olympic gold medalist softball player, is highly valued by ESPN’s hierarchy. It is expected that ESPN would only remove her from the trailblazing role on Sunday night if it can find another significant way to utilize her.
There have been some initial brainstorming sessions on what Mendoza could do, but nothing is near decided.
Mendoza is an adviser to Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. It was noticeable this year that she was hesitant to talk about the Mets, which made for some awkward moments on and off the air. She would not really address issues involving the team because of her conflict of interest.
The Dodgers, for one, decided not to allow Mendoza or another ESPN analyst, David Ross — a Cubs adviser — to roam the clubhouse during media availability before games, according to sources. A Dodgers spokesman confirmed this policy.
Broadcasters and writers usually can go up to any player in the clubhouse during the one hour of media availability before games. Mendoza and Ross had to preset any interviews, because the Dodgers wanted to monitor the access of broadcasters working for other front offices.
Meanwhile, Vasgersian came packaged to Sunday night with A-Rod two years ago to join Mendoza. Besides being in baseball’s daily grind with the MLB Network, Vasgersian is the most seasoned of the trio.
On Sundays, he is forced to do a little more than most play-by-players because of Rodriguez and Mendoza’s lack of game-calling experience. Like A-Rod, Vasgersian is in the final season of his contract.
ESPN will think about what the broadcast would sound like with Boog Sciambi, Karl Ravech or Dave Fleming in the lead play-by-play chair, according to sources. Sciambi and Rodiguez did one game together during the regular season.
A-Rod is at his best in Fox’s studio, where it is an open-book test and there are no surprises, while, on Sunday night, Rodriguez comes across as if he has crammed, leading to him being more exposed over a three-hour-plus broadcast that, at its best, should be more improv.
Mendoza — who was a hitter in softball, like A-Rod was in baseball — often seems to fade into the background during the broadcast. Her expertise is the same as A-Rod’s, but she doesn’t have the long-time on-the-field experience of the controversial two-time MVP.
ESPN may ultimately agree to stand pat. While they are expected to remain in baseball long-term, negotiations for their next MLB contract should soon begin to heat up.
Mendoza just signed a new contract last year, while, as mentioned, A-Rod and Vasgersian are in the final seasons of their deals.
The easy thing to do would be to keep the status quo, but ESPN will consider what is harder if it ultimately thinks it is better.
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