#mlb broadcasters

Baseball’s local broadcasts feel shakier than ever, with regional sports networks wobbling and streaming options multiplying. The piece argues that in this chaos, the booth is the one stable thing that can make a season feel familiar, even when the platform keeps changing, pointing to ESPN taking over MLB.TV and the league offering in market subscriptions for 20 teams through the MLB app. It also uses Buck Martinez’s retirement, after calling more than 4,000 Blue Jays games, as a reminder that a great voice can become the sound of summer. 

Instead of a stats spreadsheet, the ranking leans on three human tests: clarity in play by play, real chemistry that includes silence and disagreement, and credibility to praise great baseball while calling out sloppy baseball. 

The top spot goes to the Mets, where Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling blend insight with bite, and Hernandez’s new deal signals how valuable that booth is. The Giants land second with Kruk and Kuip, the Yankees third, and the rest of the top ten runs through the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Phillies, Braves, and Guardians, framed as crews that keep fans from drifting when channels change again.