I should point out that when I started these rankings about two years ago, I did it with the purpose of trying to provide a fun, informative and hopefully entertaining look and perspective of the people and faces who do their part in providing all fans of Major League Baseball like myself with all the latest news headlines and potential trade rumors throughout the season in a fun, informative and very entertaining way.
I also came up with the idea to do these lists some two years ago because I thought it would be cool to do so since there really were not any official or unofficial rankings of the on-air talent at MLB Network at the time. Once they started debuting shows that were and still are geared towards looking at the game of baseball with a Sabermetric point of view such as MLB Now and Top 10 Right Now, the wheels in my brain started turning. I guess a part of me figured that if the hard working men and women of MLB Network put in the effort to look at the sport itself with a Sabermetric viewpoint, then why can't a fan of the network like me take the time to put together a list of their own. So that's what I set out to do two years ago and what I've tried to do now for three years running.
I hope all of you have enjoyed reading this series of blog posts as much as I've enjoyed putting them together over the last few years.
NEW ADDITION FOR THE 2017 SEASON: The Top 10 MLB Network (MLBN) Right Now Broadcasting Sabermetrics Glossary Of Terms: (There will be instances where not every statistical category will be included and each individual has been evaluated on a case-by-case basis. For example, there will be some people who won't have a Hot Take Expressed (HTE) and so on.)
Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Show Appearances Above Replacement Personality (D-S SHARP/D-S SAARP): Named after the Wins Above Replacement Player (WAR/WARP) sabermetrics statistic. The new Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP) statistic is a measurement of the total number of Daily Signature Shows (DSS) that any MLB Network (MLBN) personality appears on as either a host, analyst, insider or contributor or in any other capacity. The list of Daily Signature Shows (DSS) that are broadcast on MLB Network (MLBN) include the following:
1. MLB Central (airs Monday-Friday from 10 A.M. EST-1 P.M. EST from the start of the regular season through the Wild Card (WC) round of the playoffs during the postseason.): MLB Network's (MLBN) regular season morning show that features Matt Vasgersian (2015-2017), Robert Flores (2018-Present), Lauren Shehadi and Mark DeRosa. The first show of the day each week during the regular season that gets baseball fans and viewers ready for the day in baseball which includes looking at whatever games are on the schedule during a particular day, highlights and analysis from the previous day's action and keeping viewers informed and up-to-date on the latest news and notes from Major League Baseball (MLB). Interviews with players, coaches and so on are also a part of the show.
2. High Heat (airs Monday-Friday from 1 P.M. EST-2 P.M. EST throughout the year.): The second weekly Daily Signature Show (DSS) on MLB Network's (MLBN) daily programming schedule. High Heat features Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo as the main host with contributions from Bruce Schein and Elliot Kalb. On High Heat, Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo delivers his own one-of-a-kind and very unique take about the day's news in Major League Baseball (MLB). Interviews with coaches and general managers are also featured.
3. The Rundown (airs Monday-Friday from 2 P.M. EST-4 P.M. EST from the start of the regular season through the League Championship Series (LCS) round of the playoffs during the postseason.): MLB network's (MLBN) mid afternoon regular season show that airs during the week and is hosted Scott Braun or Stephen Nelson and Kelly Nash or Alexa Datt. Like the other shows on MLB Network (MLBN), The Rundown gets viewers ready for that day's schedule of games along with the latest baseball news and notes and includes interviews with players, coaches, general managers and beat writers.
4. MLB Now (airs Monday-Friday from 4 P.M. EST-5 P.M. EST throughout the year except during MLB Spring Training. During the off season, the start time of MLB Now moves up to 2 P.M. EST with a replay at 4 P.M. EST. During the MLB Winter Meetings it goes back to the 4 P.M. EST time slot instead of the 2 P.M. EST time slot.): MLB Network's (MLBN) first and only Daily Signature Show (DSS) that puts a Sabermetric spin on the game of baseball with analysis about the Sabermetric statistical numbers of the game such as Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and so on. It is hosted primarily by Brian Kenny.
5. Intentional Talk (airs Monday-Friday from 5 P.M. EST-6 P.M. EST throughout the year during the regular season and during the MLB Winter Meetings (MLB WM). During the Postseason, the start times of the show may vary. Lastly, the show is only a half hour long during the off season at 3:30 P.M. EST with a replay of it at 5 P.M. EST.): The first show on MLB Network's (MLBN) daily programming schedule that takes place during the early evening part of the day if you happen to live somewhere in the Eastern part of the United States or Canada. It is hosted by Chris Rose and Kevin Millar. During the show both Rose and Millar offer their takes on the latest news and notes about the game of baseball and conduct interviews with players and coaches as well. The show also does various baseball themed segments that put a spotlight on the lighter side of baseball such as Let's Fake A Deal, Kevin's Highlights and Got Heem!
6. MLB Tonight (During the regular season and postseason the flagship program of MLB Network (MLBN) airs 7 days a week and approximately 5 days a week during the off season. The hours that the show is on can vary from a maximum of 7 hours during the regular season (6 P.M. EST-1 A.M. EST) to a minimum of 1 hour during the off season (6 P.M. EST-7 P.M. EST).: MLB Network's (MLBN) flagship program. During the regular season MLB Tonight offers viewers and fans more than enough insight and analysis about all the baseball games that take place on a particular day throughout the season. The coolest feature of the MLB Tonight show is the Live Look In segments in which viewers and fans are shown what is actually going on at a particular moment during a specific game.
MLB Tonight is hosted by a wide variety of the MLB Network (MLBN) hosts/reporters. During the regular season, the hosts/reporters who are on the show usually work in a total of 3 shifts consisting of 2-3 hours each. During the first shift from 6-8 P.M. EST a team of one host and two analysts will host the show during that time and then hand the duties off to a new time at 8 P.M. EST. The second team will then host the show for a couple more hours and then switch places with a third and final team of the night at 10 P.M. EST. The third and final hosting team will then be in charge of hosting the rest of the show until 1 A.M. EST.
7. MLB Network Showcase (airs periodically throughout the regular season): MLB Network Showcase is MLB Network's (MLBN) game of the week program that is similar to the MLB On FOX or Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN game broadcasts. It is usually hosted by Matt Vasgersian or Bob Costas as the Play-By-Play announcer, John Smoltz, Jim Kaat or someone else as the Color Analyst or Commentator and Tom Verducci, Jon Paul Morosi or Ken Rosenthal as the Field Reporter (FR).
8. Quick Pitch (airs throughout the regular season from 1 A.M. EST-2 A.M. EST or 12 A.M. EST-1 A.M. EST on weekends (live version). Replays of the show are aired throughout the rest of the night and early morning until 10 A.M. EST.): Quick Pitch is MLB Network's (MLBN) one hour highlights show that recaps all of the day's news and highlights of games from a particular day during the regular season. It is hosted by Heidi Watney, Jamie Hersch, Alexa Datt, Jackie Redmond and Stephen Nelson.
9. Hot Stove (airs Monday-Friday from 9 A.M.-11 A.M. EST during the off season. Replays from 11 A.M. EST-1 P.M. EST and from 3-3:30 P.M. EST.): Hot Stove is MLB Network's (MLBN) off season morning show. It is hosted by host Matt Vasgersian and analyst Harold Reynolds with contributions from Lauren Shehadi, Heidi Watney, Kelly Nash, Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, Joel Sherman and Keith Costas.
10. MLB Network Countdown (airs mostly on weekends during the off season at various times.): MLB Network Countdown is a countdown show on MLB Network (MLBN) that counts down various baseball-related subjects and themes such as the top however many fan moments from the previous season or the top however many greatest bat flips of all time and so on. It is hosted by a wide variety of the MLB Network (MLBN) hosts/reporters.
Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS): Measures the number of brand Brand Name Star Power Segments from the network's programming lineup of Daily Signature Shows (D-S-S BNSPS) that any MLB Network (MLBN) personality is a part of. Some examples of these show segments within a show include Matty V's Mix Tape, Central Scribbles, The Walkoff, Say Something, Hashtagging Up, The Brushback and many more.
Hot Takes Expressed (HTE): This statistic measures how many times any MLB Network (MLBN) personality says something exciting or interesting about the game of baseball throughout the year. Fun fact: whenever any MLB Network (MLBN) personality is credited with expressing a Hot Take (HTE), a graphic of a sign with the words "Hot Take" on it will usually appear on the TV screen. The best part of the "Hot Take" sign graphic that makes it fun and interesting to see of course are the flames that are included in the graphic which makes the sign complete and fun to look at.
Marquee Events Score (ME Score): This is the one new broadcasting sabermetrics statistic that I've come up with which is one of the more interesting and exciting statistical categories for measuring sports broadcaster excellence and it is also something that each and every member on MLB Network's (MLBN) roster of talent should strive to be at or near the top of. That's because the Marquee Events Score or M.E. Score is a scoring measurement that takes into account exactly how many Marquee Events in Major League Baseball (MLB) a broadcasting talent member (i.e. Hosts/Reporters, Analysts or Insiders/Contributors) of MLB Network (MLBN) is assigned to cover throughout the regular season, postseason and off season. These Marquee Events of Major League Baseball (MLB) consists of all of the following big name marquee events:
-The 2017 MLB Spring Training (MLB ST) slate of team training camps for the 30 Clubs In 30 Days show series segments on MLB Tonight.
-The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
-The 2017 MLB Opening Day (MLB OD) festivities.
-The 2017 MLB First Year Player Draft (MLB FYPD).
-The 2017 MLB All-Star Game (MLB ASG).
-The 2017 MLB National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (MLB HOF IC).
-The 2017 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (July 31st MLB NWTD).
-The 2017 American League and National League Wild Card (ALWC, NLWC) games.
-The 2017 American League Division Series and National League Division Series (ALDS, NLDS) games.
-The 2017 American League Championship Series and National League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) games.
-The 2017 MLB World Series (MLB WS).
-The 2017 Major League Baseball World Series (MLB WS) games and the 2017 MLB Winter Meetings (2017 MLB WM).
-The 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Election Announcement (2018 MLB HOF EA).
-The 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) season.
-The 2018 MLB Opening Day (2018 MLB OD) festivities.
-The 2018 MLB All-Star Game (2018 MLB ASG) festivities.
-The 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2018 MLB HOF IC).
-The 2018 July 31st MLB Non Waiver Trade Deadline (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD).
-The 2018 National League Central Game 163 Tiebreaker (NL Central Game 163 Tiebreaker) game between the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) and the Chicago Cubs (CHC). (NL Central Game 163 Tiebreaker game was played on October 1, 2018. The final score was 3 to 1 in favor of the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL)). (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 National League West Game 163 Tiebreaker (NL West Game 163 Tiebreaker) game between the Colorado Rockies (COL) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD). (NL West Game 163 Tiebreaker game was played on October 1, 2018. The final score was 5 to 2 in favor of the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD)). (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 National League Wild Card (2018 NLWC) game-(Colorado Rockies (COL) Vs. Chicago Cubs (CHC). (2018 NLWC was played on October, 2, 2018. The final score was 2 to 1 in favor of the Colorado Rockies (COL) in 13 innings.) (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 American League Wild Card (2018 ALWC)-Oakland Athletics (OAK) Vs. New York Yankees (NYY)) game. (2018 ALWC game was played on October 3, 2018. The final score was 7 to 2 in favor of the New York Yankees (NYY)). (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 National League Championship Series (2018 NLCS): (Best of 7 games)-Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) Vs. Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) (The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 4 games to 3.) (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 American League Championship Series (2018 ALCS): (Best of 7 games)-Houston Astros (HOU) Vs. Boston Red Sox (BOS) (The Red Sox defeated the Astros 4 games to 1.) (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS): (Best of 7 games)-Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) Vs. Boston Red Sox (BOS) (The Red Sox defeated the Dodgers 4 games to 1.) (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
-The 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Statistics have been updated to reflect overall performance.)
It should be noted that any MLB Network (MLBN) personality will only be given credit for any marquee events that they covered for MLB Network (MLBN). If a network personality covered a marquee event for another network throughout the year, those will not be counted in this category. They will instead be reflected as part of their Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP) as shown below.
Social Media Platforms and Followers Reached (SMPFR): A measurement of how many Social Media Platforms and Follower Reached (SMPFR) that each MLB Network (MLBN) personality has or does not have. The various types of Social Media Platforms (SMP) include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on.
Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP): Measures the number of other broadcast networks that an MLB Network (MLBN) personality is a part of besides MLB Network (MLBN).
I should also point out that this list ranking series is from one fan's perspective and is meant to be fun, informative and entertaining and is not meant to be taken too seriously. I should also point out that as a fan of MLB Network, I am an in no way affiliated with them as an employee. These are just my own views and opinions. Most of all, this series of posts is meant to be fun and entertaining! With that being said, let's get this 2018 MLB Network Top 10 Right Now rankings party started with pat one of the 2018 Top 10 MLB Network Analysts Right Now!
Photo Courtesy Of:
Wikimedia
and
Captain-tucker
Under
CC BY-SA 3.0 License.
6. Sean Casey-Coming in at number six of the Top 10 MLB Network (MLBN) Analysts Right Now in 2018 is Sean Casey. That is a nice jump up in the rankings for Casey as he rounded out the list at number ten last year. Throughout his career at MLB Network (MLBN) he has appeared on a wide variety of the network's shows or programs such as MLB Tonight, MLB Central, MLB Now and more.
In 2017 Sean Casey was also one of the few MLB Network (MLBN) analysts who appeared at a few of the Marquee Events (ME) in Major League Baseball (MLB) that the network did coverage of such as the MLB All-Star Game (MLB ASG) and the MLB World Series (MLB WS).
One last thing that was nice to learn about Sean Casey in 2017 was the charitable work that he has done for the Miracle League which provides children with special needs an opportunity to play the game of baseball on fields that have been built to be fully accessible for people who are disabled like me. It's too bad that there was not really a charitable organization like that that was around when I was that I know of whose mission was to provide people who are disabled with an equal opportunity to play the game the baseball.
Sean Casey's 2018 Broadcasting Sabermetrics Profile (BSP):
Time Spent At MLB Network (MLBN): 2009-Present (10th year)
1. 2017-2018 Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP): MLB Tonight + MLB Now + MLB Central (guest analyst) + Intentional Talk (fill-in host)=4 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP in 2017-2018.
Of the 4 shows that Sean Casey was a main part of in 2017-2018, the majority of his appearances were on MLB Tonight.
Career Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (Career D-S-SHARP/Career D-S-SAARP): Sean Casey's career statistics in this category are pretty much the same as the 2017-2018 total with the additions of Hot Stove and Play Ball as a guest analyst/contributor. Even with the additions of Hot Stove and Play Ball included in the career total of show appearances for Sean Casey, the majority of those MLB Network (MLBN) show appearances are still on MLB Tonight.
2. Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS):
-Diamond Demo
-Live Look In
-The 5 Train
-Believe/Make Believe
-Fill The Plate
-Casey's Smoke Show
-7 Minute Stretch
Video Courtesy Of:
and
Sean Casey's Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments that he is a part of are from either MLB Tonight or MLB Central. While he technically does not ha brand name show segment of his own, Sean has been featured in a few notable ones such as the Diamond Demo, The 5 Train and Fill The Plate.
There is also another show segment on MLB Central that Sean Casey is featured in where he is shown in front of a barbecue grill supposedly grilling some type of food item such as a hot dog or hamburger. I think this segment is called Casey's Smoke Show but I am not 100% sure if that is the name of the segment.
3. Hot Takes Expressed (HTE): 0 Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) for Sean Casey in 2017-2018.
While Sean Casey did not have a Hot Take Expressed (HTE) that was good enough to stand out and be included during the 2017-2018 evaluation period, he has had a couple Career Hot Takes Expressed (Career HTE) from a few years ago.
The first one occurred during the 2016 season when he made an appearance on MLB Tonight when he and Cliff Floyd were doing some type of classroom-themed show segment on MLB Tonight with host Greg Amsinger. Since this one time show segment on MLB Tonight has a classroom learning type of theme to it, both Sean and Cliff had to sit in a pair of school desks because they were playing the roles of students who probably had to answer a few baseball related questions.
This particular segment was rolling along nicely right up until the end. That was when Sean Casey who was still sitting in the desk did the following as he was trying to get out of it.
Video Courtesy Of:
and
The second of 2 Career Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) for Sean Casey came during the 2015 season when he was taking a few practice swings in Studio 42 with host Lauren Shehadi in preparation for that year's edition of the All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. It was during this round of practice swings that Sean hit a line drive back towards the mound and this happened.
Video Courtesy Of:
and
Thankfully Lauren was not too badly injured by the line drive back to the mound and did not miss any hosting time after that because of it.
4. Marquee Events (ME) Score: 11 Marquee Events (ME) covered in 2017-2018 so far for Sean Casey.
1. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Division Series (2017 ALDS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE).
2. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 MLB World Series (2017 MLB WS) between the Houston Astros (HOU) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California and Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
3. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) season from the Cactus (CACTUS) League in Arizona.
4. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Opening Day (2018 MLB OD) festivities.
5. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB All-Star Game (2018 MLB ASG) week festivities from Nationals Park in Washington, D.C..
6. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2018 MLB HOF IC) and also hosted MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2018 MLB HOF IC).
7. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League Central/National League West Game 163 Tiebreaker (2018 NL Central/NL West Game 163 Tiebreaker) games between the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) versus the Chicago Cubs (CHC) and the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD).
8. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League Central/National League West Game 163 Tiebreaker (2018 NL Central/NL West Game 163 Tiebreaker) games that were played between the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) versus the Chicago Cubs (CHC) and the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD).
9. Appeared on both MLB Central and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Wild Card (2018 NLWC/ALWC) games that were played between the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Chicago Cubs (CHC) in the National League (NL) and the Oakland Athletics (OAK) versus the New York Yankees (NYY) in the American League (AL).
10. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS) between the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL)/Atlatna Braves (ATL) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) in the National League (NL) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE) versus the Houston Astros (HOU)/New York Yankees (NYY) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) in the American League (AL).
11. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) from Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
5. Social Media Platforms and Followers Reached (SMPFR): Facebook + Twitter + Instagram=3 SMPFR for Sean Casey.
Like a large number of the other MLB Network (MLBN) personalities who do have an online social media presence, Sean Casey has 3 official social media pages. In fact, he has the full trifecta of the most popular pages that most people like to use in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
On his Facebook page, there are 1,087 people and counting who have liked the page and 1,125 people and counting who have followed it.
On Twitter he has had a total of 869 tweets and counting to go along with 80.8 thousand followers and counting.
Finally on Instagram, he has only posted 4 total posts since he joined Instagram but he has 1,696 total followers and counting.
6. Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP): 0 MBNSAP in 2017-2018 for Sean Casey.
As far as I can tell from doing my own research, Sean Casey spent all of his time as a broadcaster/analyst during the 2017-2018 period as a member of the MLB Network (MLBN) broadcast team.
Photo Courtesy Of:
Wikimedia
and
Mike LaChance and Ytoyoda
Under
CC BY-SA 2.0 License.
In 2017 Dan Plesac was also present for the network's coverage of baseball's Marquee Events (ME) such as the 2017 MLB World Series (MLB WS). With regards to the time that Dan spent on MLB Network (MLBN) as part of their Marquee Events (ME) coverage in 2017, it would have been interesting to see if he was still having trouble with pronouncing the names of some players who participated in last year's World Baseball Classic (WBC) as compared to a few years ago. As far as I can remember, there were no instances of mispronouncing player names for him during last year's tournament unlike a few years ago when he had trouble pronouncing the names of some Japanese baseball players like Hiroki Kuroda and Hideo Nomo.
Dan Plesac's 2018 Broadcasting Sabermetrics Profile (BSP):
Time Spent At MLB Network (MLBN): 2009-Present (10th year)
1. 2017-2018 Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Show Appearances Above Replacement Personality (2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/2017-2018 D-S-SAARP): MLB Tonight + MLB Now + Intentional Talk (fill-in host) + The Rundown=4 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP in 2017-2018.
Career Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Show Appearances Above Replacement Personality (Career D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP): Same as 2017-2018 total number plus MLB Central equals 5 Career D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP. Mr. Plesac also made at least one appearance on Hot Stove during the 2017-2018, but since there were not too many more of those appearances after that, it unfortunately does not count as part of his career total number in this category.
2. Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS):
-The Amazing Sac Man
-Max Scherzer Hello Chief!...It's Max shoe phone segment (during select occasions, usually when Max Scherzer is pitching).
-Diamond Demo
-Live Look In
-Klub Kluber
-7 Minute Stretch
-Pablo Sandoval Kung Fu Panda panda hat karate chop segment (during select occasions, usually when Pablo Sandoval is playing).
In this Broadcasting Sabermetrics (BS) category, 3 out of the 4 Daily Signature Show Brand Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS) that Dan Plesac is involved in or is a part are from MLB Tonight.
The only segment from the list above which was not a part of the MLB Tonight show is the Klub Kluber segment. That segment was a part of the MLB Central regular season morning show during the 2017 season that celebrated the great season that pitcher Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians (CLE) had en route to winning his second career Cy Young Award for the 2017 season.
It should be noted though that even though Dan Plesac was not directly involved with this particular show segment during the 2017 season, (that honor belonged to Mark DeRosa), Dan Plesac played an indirect part in it. That is because during the opening introduction portion of the segment, Dan was shown to be playing the part of the disc jockey who provides the music in a fictional night club setting (presumably Klub Kluber). The fun part of the segment opening introduction was when it Mr. Plesac dancing to the music while doing his DJ duties at the same.
3. Hot Takes Expressed (HTE): For Dan Plesac there were 0 Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) that were of some notable importance in 2017-2018.
While Dan Plesac did not have any notable Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) during the 2017-2018 calendar year, I guess you could consider the issues that he had as mentioned from earlier up above with trying to properly pronounce certain players from a few years ago during the World Baseball Classic (WBC). In that case he would have at least 1 Career Hot Take Expressed (Career HTE). Unfortunately I have not been able to find video link that shows exactly what happened during this particular incident.
4. Marquee Events (ME) Score: 13 Marquee Events (ME) covered in 2017-2018 for Dan Plesac.
1. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 MLB Spring Training (2017 MLB ST) season from the Grapefruit League (GRPFRT) League in Florida.
2. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Division Series (2017 ALDS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE).
3. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Championship Series (2017 ALCS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Houston Astros (HOU).
4. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 National League Championship Series (2017 NLCS) between the Chicago Cubs (CHC) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD).
5. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 MLB World Series (2017 MLB WS) between the Houston Astros (HOU) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California and Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
6. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) season from the Grapefruit (GRPFRT) League in Florida.
7. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Opening Day (2018 MLB OD) festivities.
8. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD). (NOTE: Appeared on both of the July 30-31st episodes of MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD).
9. Appeared on both The Rundown and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Wild Card (2018 NLWC/ALWC) games that were played between the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Chicago Cubs (CHC) in the National League (NL) and the Oakland Athletics (OAK) versus the New York Yankees (NYY) in the American League (AL).
10. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS) between the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL)/Atlatna Braves (ATL) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) in the National League (NL) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE) versus the Houston Astros (HOU)/New York Yankees (NYY) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) in the American League (AL).
11. Hosted Intentional Talk and appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) versus the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) in the National League (NL) and the Houston Astros (HOU) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) in the American League (AL).
12. Appeared on High Heat, MLB Now and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) from Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
13. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) from Las Vegas, Nevada.
5. Social Media Platforms and Followers Reached (SMPFR): Facebook + Twitter + Instagram=3 SMPFR for Dan Plesac.
When it comes to the Social Media platform department, it appears that Dan Plesac has gotten aboard the Social Media train and has fully embraced it by having a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram page. That is good for a grand total of 3 Social Media Platforms (SMP).
There does not seem to be a lot of information about his Facebook other than the fact that he does have one. Besides that there is no other additional information about how many people like the page or follow it.
On Twitter Dan has sent out 12.4 thousand tweets and counting to go along with 59.2 thousand followers and counting.
Lastly on Instagram, he has had 902 posts and counting with a grand total of 3,935 followers and counting.
During the 2018 season Dan was also a color commentator for a few of the MLB Live game of the week broadcasts that have been viewed exclusively on Facebook.
6. Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP): 3 MBNSAP.
1. NBC Sports Chicago (formerly CSN Chicago)-Last season Dan Plesac made a few appearances as a color commentator for some Chicago White Sox (CHW) games alongside Ken "Hawk" Harrelson on what was then known as CSN Chicago.
2. Golf Channel-During the 2017-2018 off season Dan Plesac also appeared and played in the 2018 Diamond Resorts Invitational golf tournament that was broadcast on the Golf Channel.
3. Fox Sports Wisconsin-During the 2018 season Dan Plesac was a color commentator for a select number of Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) games on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
Photo Courtesy Of:
Wikimedia
and
Under
CC BY-SA 2.0 License.
8. Carlos Pena-Coming in at number eight on the countdown in 2018 is Carlos Pena. From a sabermetrics standpoint, Pena was awarded a spot in the Top 10 due to the considerably large enough sample size across a variety of MLB Network's (MLBN) Daily Signature Show (DSS) programming lineup in 2017-2018.
During the 2017 season and the 2017-2018 off season, Carlos Pena made several appearances on MLB Tonight, MLB Central, The Rundown, MLB Now and Intentional Talk.
He was also a part of MLB Network's (MLBN) Marquee Events (ME) coverage during the 2017 postseason as he took part in covering 4 of them. It should be pointed out that it was a close call with regards to the number of Marquee Events (ME) that Carlos Pena took part in for the purposes of this list. That's because during the 2017 postseason, both he and fellow MLB Network (MLBN) analyst Cliff Floyd were featured on quite a few of the Marquee Events (ME) that MLB Network (MLBN) provided coverage of at the time.
The deciding factor in putting Carlos Pena in the number eight spot on this year's edition of the Top 10 analysts right now was his assignment to go cover the 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) season from the Cactus (CACTUS) League in Arizona. While his counterpart in this competition in Cliff Floyd may have been a part of more Marquee Events (ME) overall, Carlos was given the edge for a coveted spot in the countdown with the added Spring Training assignment while Cliff Floyd was not sent out to go cover any part of Spring Training in 2018 from either Florida or Arizona and when certain aspects of evaluating one competitor over another are a close call, those slight advantages do matter when deciding who to choose for a top 10 spot.
Carlos Pena's 2018 Broadcasting Sabermetrics Profile (BSP):
Time Spent At MLB Network (MLBN): 2014-Present (5th year)
1. 2017-2018 Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/2017-2018 D-S-SAARP): MLB Tonight + MLB Central (guest analyst) + MLB Now=3 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP in 2017-2018.
In 2017-2018 Carlos Pena either hosted or made appearances on 3 daily signature shows on MLB Network (MLBN). Those shows were MLB Tonight, MLB Central and MLB Now.
Career Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (Career D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP): Same as 2017-2018 total with the addition of Intentional Talk for a career total of 4 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP for Carlos Pena.
2. Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS): 0 D-S-S BNSPS for Carlos Pena. While it is true that Carlos Pena has been involved in or participated in a few Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS) over the last few years, there have been none up to this point in which he has been a part of in a starring role capacity.
3. Hot Takes Expressed (HTE): 0 Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) for Carlos Pena in 2017-2018.
4. Marquee Events (ME) Score: 6 Marquee Events (ME) covered for Carlos Pena in 2017-2018.
1. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Championship Series (2017 ALCS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Houston Astros (HOU).
2. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 National League Championship Series (2017 NLCS) between the Chicago Cubs (CHC) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD).
3. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 MLB World Series (2017 MLB WS) between the Houston Astros (HOU) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD).
4. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) season from the Cactus (CACTUS) League in Arizona.
5. Appeared on both of the 2018 MLB All-Star Red Carpet and MLB Tonight shows during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB All-Star Game (2018 MLB ASG) week festivities from Nationals Park in Washington, D.C..
6. Appeared on The Rundown, MLB Now and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) versus the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) in the National League (NL) and the Houston Astros (HOU) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) in the American League (AL).
The 6 Marquee Events (ME) that Carlos Pena has covered so far in 2017-2018 have come during the 2017 MLB Postseason and during the MLB Spring Training season in 2018.
5. Social Media Platforms and Followers Reached (SMPFR): Carlos Pena has 0 SMPFR.
Carlos Pena must not be a very big fan of the online social media scene as he currently does not have an official social media page of any kind.
6. Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP): 0 MBNSAP for Carlos Pena in 2017-2018.
Carlos Pena also did not make any appearances on any other TV networks besides MLB Network (MLBN) in 2017-2018.
Not only has he put together a steady body of work over the last few years but starting with the 2017 season, he was given the freedom to have his own Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segment (D-S-S BNSPS) called Donuts With Demp on the MLB Central show.
This new brand name signature show segment seemed to work out a lot better than the one that it most likely replaced called Breakfast With the Millars'. Donuts With Demp became a much more dependable show segment during the 2017 season because of the fact that unlike the Breakfast With the Millars' show segment, Donuts With Demp lasted for more than one week and actually lasted all the way until the end of the season. It should also be noted that the main reason why the Breakfast With the Millars' segment never really took off was probably because of the absence of it's main star in Kevin Millar after the second or third week of the segment.
Ryan Dempster's 2018 Broadcasting Sabermetrics Profile (BSP):
Time Spent At MLB Network (MLBN): 2014-Present (5th year)
1. 2017-2018 Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/2017-2018 D-S-SAARP): MLB Tonight + MLB Central (guest analyst/Donuts With Demp weekly signature show segment) + MLB Now + Intentional Talk (fill-in host) + MLB Network (MLBN) Showcase=5 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP in 2017-2018.
Career Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Show Appearances Above Replacement Personality (Career D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP): Same as 2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP.
2. Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS): 1 D-S-S BNSPS for Ryan Dempster in 2017-2018.
-Donuts With Demp (renamed Daytime With Dempster at the start of the 2018 season).
Video Courtesy Of:
and
3. Hot Takes Expressed (HTE): 0 Hot Takes Expressed for Ryan Dempster in 2017-2018.
4. Marquee Events (ME) Score: 4 Marquee Events (ME) covered for Ryan Dempster in 2017-2018.
1. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Wild Card (2017 ALWC) game between the Minnesota Twins (MIN) and the New York Yankees (NYY).
2. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 National League Wild Card (NLWC) game between the Colorado Rockies (COL) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (ARI).
3. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Division Series (2017 ALDS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE).
4. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Opening Day (2018 MLB OD) festivities.
In 2017 and 2018 most of the 4 Marquee Events (ME) that Ryan Dempster participated in coverage of took place during the first two rounds of the 2017 postseason with appearances on MLB Tonight during both of the 2017 American and National League Wild Card (2017 ALWC, 2017 NLWC) games between the Minnesota Twins (MIN) and the New York Yankees (NYY) in the American League (AL) and the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Arizona Diamondbacks (ARI) in the National League (NL) . He also appeared on MLB Tonight during the 2017 American League Division Series (2017 ALDS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE).
At the beginning of the 2018 season Ryan Dempster appeared on MLB Tonight once again for MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Opening Day (2018 MLB OD) festivities.
5. Social Media Platforms and Followers Rached (SMPFR): Twitter=1 SMPFR.
Ryan Dempster currently has only one official social media platform page which is on Twitter. On his Twitter page Mr. Dempster has a total of 308 tweets and counting as well as 6,335 followers and counting.
6. Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP): Travel Channel=1 MBNSAP for Ryan Dempster in 2017-2018.
1. Travel Channel-In 2017 and 2018 Ryan Dempster appeared on a couple episodes of the Booze Traveler show on the Travel Channel.
10. Dan O'Dowd-Capturing the final spot in the Top 10 countdown of the best MLB Network (MLBN) analysts right now is Dan O'Dowd. After being left off the list completely last year, including the Those Who Just Missed The Cut section, Dan O'Dowd's body of work in 2017-2018 was good enough as an analyst to be just the second newcomer to this edition of the Top 10 Right Now list. In the interest of full disclosure I should point out that the reason why O'Dowd was omitted completely from any part of the list last year was simply because I forgot about him being a member of the MLB Network (MLBN) broadcasting team and accidentally left him out of it.
Having said that and now that the oversight has been corrected for 2018, Dan O'Dowd was able to claim the last spot on this year's countdown due in large part to his analyst role as the network's resident GM in which he provides analysis from a unique front office perspective thanks to his previous line of work as a general manager in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Dan O'Dowd's 2018 Broadcasting Sabermetrics Profile (BSP):
Time Spent At MLB Network (MLBN): 2015-Present (4th year)
1. 2017-2018 Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Appearances Above Replacement Personality (2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/2017-2018 D-S-SAARP): MLB Tonight + MLB Central + The Rundown + MLB Now + Hot Stove=4 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP in 2017-2018 for Dan O'Dowd.
Career Daily Signature Shows Hosted/Show Appearances Above Replacement Personality (Career D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP): Same as 2017-2018 D-S-SHARP/D-S-SAARP.
2. Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS): 1 D-S-S BNSPS for Dan O'Dowd in 2017-2018.
-Deals With Dan
Deals With Dan is the only show segment that Dan O'Dowd is involved in on a fairly regular basis. This is appropriate since the segment does have his own name included in it. The basic idea of the segment is for viewers to submit their very own trade proposal ideas on Twitter during The Rundown show on MLB Network (MLBN). Some of the various fan trade proposals are then shown while The Rundown is on the air for Dan to judge and react to. Since Dan used to be a general manager himself and worked in the front office department of various major league teams, these segments tend to be very fun and interesting due to his previous years of experience from when he was working in the field.
Video Courtesy Of:
and
3. Hot Takes Expressed (HTE): 0 Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) for Dan O'Dowd in 2017-2018.
While Dan O'Dowd has provided a lot of excellent analysis and insight from a general manager/front office perspective so far during his time at MLB Network (MLBN) there really was no one particular subject or discussion that stood out during the 2017-2018 period which was good enough and worthy of being classified in the Hot Takes Expressed (HTE) category.
4. Marquee Events (ME) Score: 8 Marquee Events (ME) covered in 2017-2018 for Dan O'Dowd
1. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2017 July 31st MLB NWTD).
2. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 National League Championship Series (2017 NLCS) between the Chicago Cubs (CHC) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD).
3. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2017 American League Championship Series (2017 ALCS) between the New York Yankees (NYY) and the Houston Astros (HOU).
4. Appeared on MLB Now during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD). (NOTE: Appeared on the July 30, 2018 edition of MLB Now.)
He also appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD). (NOTE: Appeared on both of July 30-31st episodes of MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD).
5. Appeared on The Rundown, MLB Now and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS) between the Colorado Rockies (COL) versus the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL)/Atlatna Braves (ATL) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) in the National League (NL) and the Cleveland Indians (CLE) versus the Houston Astros (HOU)/New York Yankees (NYY) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) in the American League (AL).
6. Appeared on The Rundown, MLB Now and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) versus the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) in the National League (NL) and the Houston Astros (HOU) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) in the American League (AL).
7. Appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) versus the Boston Red Sox (BOS) from Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
8. Appeared on MLB Now and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) from Las Vegas, Nevada.
in 2017-2018 Dan O'Dowd has participated in a total of 8 Marquee Events (ME) so far. Of those 7 events 2 came during the 2017 postseason and the other 2 have come during the last 2 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2017-2018 July 31st MLB NWTD) periods. The most recent ones came during the League Division Series (LDS) and the League Championship Series (LCS) and MLB World Series (MLB WS) rounds of the 2018 Postseason.
5. Social Media Platforms and Followers Reached (SMPFR): Dan O'Dowd has a grand total of 0 SMPFR.
Just like some of the other MLB Network (MLBN) personalities, Dan O'Dowd currently does not have an official social media platform page of any kind.
6. Multiple Broadcast Networks Star Appearance Profile (MBNSAP): 0 MBNSAP for Dan O'Dowd in 2017-2018.
Dan O'Dowd did not make an appearance on any other networks in addition to MLB Network (MLBN) during 2017-2018.
Those Who Just Missed The Cut In 2017:
11. Al Leiter-Al Leiter is the first MLB Network (MLBN) analyst to just miss the cut in 2018 and not be in the Top 10 as a result. While he got off to a strong start in terms of his overall performance during the 2017 season across a few of MLB Network's (MLBN) Daily Signature Shows (DSS), for whatever reason Mr. Leiter's overall performance and entire body of work seemed to kind of tail off. While his performance as an analyst during the 2017 season and 2017-2018 off season was still pretty decent, it was not good enough to be given a spot in this year's Top 10 Right Now countdown of the MLB Network (MLBN) analysts and instead land just outside the countdown at number eleven.
With that being said there were a couple of fun things to take note of about Al Leiter's performance during the 2017 season and the 2017-2018 off season. The first was the occasional off season show segment on Hot Stove which showcased how good his interviewing skills were or were not during a question and answer segment with catcher Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees (NYY) on MLB Network (MLBN) during the regular season.
Since it took quite a while for Al to ask Gary Sanchez a single question during the segment, the Hot Stove hosting team and production crew decided to make their own segment out of it during the off season in which they supposedly put Al Leiter on the clock and timed him to see exactly just how long it took him to ask Gary Sanchez a question during the regular season. What made that segment even funnier besides watching the seconds and or minutes tick away on the clock was seeing the look on the face of Gary Sanchez's interpreter who would then have to translate the question from English to Spanish!
The other noteworthy piece of analysis that came courtesy of Al Leiter was towards the end of the 2017-2018 off season when he talked about his own version of a Spring Training pitching workout regimen on MLB Tonight. Not only was the segment very informative and a very in-depth one, but it was also a very entertaining eight minutes or so of analysis. When watching the segment, it also seemed like Al Leiter got in a pretty good workout as well because by the time it was over it sounded like he was out of breath or breathing very hard.
Fast forwarding to the 2018 Postseason, Al Leiter has appeared on MLB Now and MLB Tonight during the 2018 National League/American League Wild Card (2018 NLWC/ALWC) games. He also appeared on MLB Tonight during the network's coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
During the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS) Al appeared on The Rundown and MLB Tonight.
For MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS) Al appeared on MLB Now and MLB Tonight from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
12. John Smoltz-The next MLB Network (MLBN) analyst to just miss the cut in 2018 is John Smoltz. While he was another of the network's analysts who had a strong overall performance during the 2017 season and 2017-2018 off season, he unfortunately ended up in this section of the countdown at number twelve mainly due to the amount of competition between some of the other network's analysts for this year's Top 10 spots.
Even though he is not in the Top 10 in 2018, the work of John Smoltz as an analyst is also notable because of the job that he does as well during the regular season and postseason as an analyst for various MLB On FOX game broadcasts including the 2017 MLB World Series (2017 MLB WS) with Joe Buck.
For the 2018 Postseason John Smoltz has so far made an appearance on High Heat as well as serving in the role of color commentator during MLB Network's (MLBN) of game one of the 2018 National League Division Series (2018 NLDS) between the Atlanta Braves (ATL) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Besides that, he has also continued to serve as a color commentator for the MLB On Fox broadcasts during the 2018 regular season and postseason.
From what I can tell by going back and doing the necessary research, John Smoltz did not make any appearances on MLB Network (MLBN) during the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS). This was most likely due to his role as the main color commentator for the World Series game broadcasts on FOX.
13. Cliff Floyd-The next MLB Network (MLBN) analyst to just miss the Top 10 cut in 2018 is Cliff Floyd. While Cliff Floyd has been given more opportunities to become a consistent analyst at the network over the last few years, his performance during the 2017 season and the 2017-2018 off season fell just short of the qualifications and standards needed to have a spot in the Top 10.
Even though he was assigned to cover a decent number of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Marquee Events (ME) during the 2017 postseason, it still was not enough to put him over the top of some other MLB Network (MLBN) analysts. The number of Marquee Events (ME) that he helped to provide coverage of was at one point given some very serious consideration for a spot in this year's Top 10 list but in a close race between him and Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd lost out on a top 10 privilege and missed making the list due to not being assigned a 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) Marquee Events (ME) assignment of any kind while Carlos Pena was given a 2018 MLB Spring Training (2018 MLB ST) Marquee Events (ME) from the Cactus (CACTUS) League in Arizona.
During the 2018 season Cliff was also a color commentator for a few of the MLB Live game of the week broadcasts that have been viewed exclusively on Facebook.
Before the official start of the 2018 Postseason Cliff Floyd appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League Central/National League West Game 163 Tiebreaker (2018 NL Central/NL West Game 163 Tiebreaker) games.
Once the 2018 Postseason started Cliff appeared on MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
14. Joe Magrane-Joe Magrane got off to a pretty good start to the 2017 season as an analyst by being assigned to go cover the first round of games of the 2017 World Baseball Classic (2017 WBC) from the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea as a color commentator for MLB Network (MLBN). The momentum generated from that kind of a start to a season along with his work as an analyst during the rest of the regular season and postseason could not be maintained for whatever reason. Add to that the fact that Joe Magrane is one of the few MLB Network (MLBN) analysts who has historically not had a very significant amount of on-air time on MLB Network (MLBN) during the off season. If he had made more appearances on the network or was given the opportunity to make more appearances during the off season in addition to what he has done during the regular season then perhaps Mr. Magrane might have been higher than the 14th spot on the list and therefore just outside the top 10.
Since the end of the 2018 regular season Joe Magrane has been present on MLB Central during the network's coverage of the 2018 National League Central/National League West Game 163 Tiebreaker (2018 NL Central/NL West Game 163 Tiebreaker) games. So far during the 2018 Postseason Joe has also made appearances on The Rundown and MLB Now during the 2018 National League/American League Wild Card (2018 NLWC/ALWC) games.
Mr. Magrane was bck in action at MLB Network (MLBN) during the third round of the 2018 Postseason as he appeared on The Rundown for coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS).
15. Mike Lowell-Mike Lowell is the next MLB Network (MLBN) analyst in the those who just missed the cut in 2018 section. While he has done some very good work as an analyst on MLB Network (MLBN) throughout the last few years including being a part of the network's Marquee Events (ME) coverage such as the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) from Orlando, Florida, there were still time when it seemed like Mike Lowell did not appear on any MLB Network (MLBN) programming over a certain period of time here and there. As I have pointed out with some of the network's other analysts up above, it does not help their case for a spot in the top 10 portion of the countdown if they don't appear or are featured on the network on a more consistent basis. Unfortunately from what I have seen and or observed, Mike Lowell is one of those analysts who for whatever reason has had a body of work that is somewhat lacking in terms of having the opportunity to get more consistent appearances.
Mike Lowell appeared on both MLB Central and MLB Tonight during coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
Now that MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 Postseason is underway and in full swing Mike Lowell has added a pair of appearances on MLB Tonight during the 2018 National League/American League Wild Card (2018 NLWC/ALWC) games to his resume.
He also appeared on both MLB Central and MLB Tonight during coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
Fast forwarding to the month of December Mike Lowell appeared on Hot Stove, Intentional Talk and MLB Tonight during MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) from Las Vegas, Nevada.
During the ensuing debate and discussion, Preston Wilson appeared to have no problem with a player bunting for a base hit to try and break up a no-hitter. Unfortunately, Wilson was not able to sustain the good performance and keep up the momentum well enough for the rest of the regular season and postseason with a few assignments included for Marquee Events (ME) to hold onto a top 10 ranking in 2018.
So far Preston Wilson has not made an appearance on any MLB Network (MLBN) daily signature show during the 2018 Postseason.
17. Jim Thome-The 2017 season was the first one for Jim Thome as an analyst for MLB Network (MLBN). While he did have a very good season in his first year with MLB Network (MLBN), especially when it came to talking about what to do as a hitter in certain game situations, there was simply just too much competition among some of the other analysts ahead of him to be in the top 10 after just one year of service time as an analyst.
Up to this point Jim Thome has not made an appearance of any kind on MLB Network (MLBN) during the 2018 Postseason.
Jim Thome finally made his 2018 Postseason debut on MLB Network (MLBN) when he appeared on MLB Tonight during the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS).
18. Jim Kaat-During the 2017 regular season and postseason, Jim Kaat served as one of the lead color commentators for select MLB Network (MLBN) Showcase games. Other than that, he did not make too many appearances throughout the year on some of the MLB Network (MLBN) programs. He has made an appearance every now and then on certain shows such as MLB Central and Hot Stove over the last few years but those appearances have not been frequent enough to warrant serious consideration for Jim Kaat to be included in the top 10 in 2018.
While he has not been featured too much yet on MLB Network (MLBN) during the 2018 Postseason period, Jim Kaat did serve as the color commentator for the network's exclusive broadcast of game 3 of the 2018 National League Division Series (2018 NLDS) between the Colorado Rockies (COL) and the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL) from Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. He also appeared on MLB Tonight before the game.
19. Pedro Martinez-Pedro Martinez is the third MLB Network (MLBN) analyst besides Cliff Floyd and Preston Wilson to have been strongly considered for a top 10 spot in 2018 but in the end fall short of making the cut. His work as an analyst in 2017-2018 was impressive enough at one point that he had been given a spot somewhere in the lower portion of the top 10 countdown list for 2018.
The biggest factor that was key to his performance early on were the insights that he had to offer on various pitching aspects of the game. Since he was a very good pitcher during his playing career, perhaps it was not that much of a surprise that he did have various instances of excellent pitching analysis.
The one instance that propelled Pedro into the top 10 portion of this year's list at one point was when he had an issue with when I think either Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals (WSH) was taken out of a game last year by Dusty Baker who was the manager of the team at the time. If I remember correctly, I think Pedro at the time said something along the lines of whichever pitcher it was on the team being left in the game for possibly one batter too long. Long story short in Pedro's case, he was not able to sustain his performance as an analyst for the rest of the season to the point where he could have had a spot in the top 10.
During the 2018 Postseason Pedro Martinez has been working exclusively as a studio analyst for both pregame and postgame coverage of the 2018 MLB Postseason on TBS.
Once his previous commitment with TBS was finished after their coverage of the 2018 MLB Postseason was finished Pedro Martinez was finally free to be a part of MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS). During that time he made appearances on Intentional Talk and MLB Tonight from Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
Since the start of the 2018 Postseason Dave Valle made appearances on MLB Central and MLB Tonight during the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
Looking back on his overall performance from 2017-2018, the only appearance that Ron Darling made during the regular season was on an episode of MLB Network (MLBN) Presents called The Impossible Dream: Red Sox Nation Begins.
The only time that Ron Darling was in the top 10 section of this list was the very first year in which I did this series of blog posts. Back then I gave him credit for all the work that he did as a color commentator for both the New York Mets (NYM) on Sportsnet New York (SNY) and on TBS for national game broadcasts during the regular season and postseason. As time has gone however and I have worked to improved the entire process and become more focused on what are some of the important factors to consider, Mr. Darling has unfortunately not come close to making it into the top 10 for the last couple of years.
Since that time when Ron Darling was in the top 10 during the first year of my Top 10 MLB Network (MLBN) Right Now list series, I have decided to place more value towards a personality's overall performance during the regular season when it comes to evaluating the overall performance of those individuals who are not on MLB Network (MLBN) throughout the entire year. That's one reason why guys like Mark DeRosa who comes in at number three this year and Pedro Martinez, who at one point had a spot in this year's top 10 list, are ranked higher because the majority of their on-air work as analysts seemingly comes during the regular season. In Ron Darling's case it's too bad that he has not had more appearances on MLB Network (MLBN) during the regular season as well because when he is there, he does a very good job as an analyst.
There is some good news for Ron Darling in 2018 since he has started to be featured more often on MLB Network (MLBN) during the regular season in addition to his off season work. Since this is his first year of being featured on MLB Network (MLBN) during the regular season however, he would need a bigger sample size than one season in order to move up in the rankings.
As far as postseason performance is concerned Ron Darling is once again serving in the role of color commentator for the 2018 MLB Postseason on TBS. He has also made an appearance on High Heat during coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
He also made an appearance on MLB Now during the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS).
During MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) from Las Vegas, Nevada, Ron Darling appeared on both MLB Now and MLB Tonight.
So far in the 2018 Postseason Joe Girardi has appeared on MLB Tonight during coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Division Series (2018 NLDS/ALDS).
During coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS) Joe Girardi appeared on High Heat, MLB Now and MLB Tonight on MLB Network (MLBN). Those appearances were made from both Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
In the time that passed since his return, Hart was a member of the Atlanta Braves (ATL) front office team, first as an interim general manager and then as the president of baseball operations during the 2014 off season. Hart would later resign from that post some three years later as a result of Major League Baseball's (MLB) investigation and subsequent discipline of the Atlanta Braves (ATL) efforts to sign a group of international free agents during the off season in 2017.
During the first go around with them, Hart filled the role of the network's resident GM and showcased his knowledge on all things related to the way the game is run from the perspective of the teams' front offices.
During the 2018 Postseason John Hart made his first appearances for coverage of the 2018 National League/American League Championship Series (2018 NLCS/ALCS) on both of the MLB Now and MLB Tonight shows.
For MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB World Series (2018 MLB WS) John Hart appeared on both MLB Now and MLB Tonight from the MLB Network (MLBN) headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey.
No Longer Eligible For Consideration In 2017 And Beyond At MLB Network (MLBN):
1. Larry Bowa-Moving on to those former MLB Network (MLBN) personalities and individuals from the analysts' category who are no longer eligible for consideration, the first person is Larry Bowa. Bowa worked as an analyst for MLB Network (MLBN) from 2011 to 2013. While there, he made appearances on various MLB Network (MLBN) shows such as Hot Stove and MLB Tonight.
After leaving MLB Network (MLBN) in 2013, Mr. Bowa went on to serve as the bench coach of the Philadelphia Phillies (PHI) from the 2014 season to the 2017 season. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, he was given the role of Senior Advisor to the General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (PHI) named Matt Klentak.
2. Tony Clark-Tony Clark spent only one year as an analyst at MLB Network (MLBN) back in 2009. While there, he appeared primarily on MLB Tonight.
Following his departure from MLB Network (MLBN), Clark was hired to be the Director of Player Relations for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) union in March of 2010. A few years later in December of 2013 Clark was named as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) union in a unanimous vote after the death of the previous executive director of the MLBPA who was Michael Weiner.
3. Ron Gant-Ron Gant was an analyst at MLB Network (MLBN) from 2011 to 2012 and made appearances on MLB Tonight and Hot Stove. He is now a co-host of the Good Day Atlanta morning TV show on WAGA-TV.
4. Darryl Hamilton-Darryl Hamilton was a member of the MLB Network (MLBN) broadcasting team from 2013 to 2015. During his time there he appeared on a few daily signature shows such as MLB Tonight and MLB Central. Unfortunately though Darryl's career at MLB Network (MLBN) was cut tragically short by his sudden death on June 21, 2015.
5. Barry Larkin-Barry Larkin's tenure at MLB Network (MLBN) lasted from 2009 to 2011. During his time there he appeared on MLB Tonight and Hot Stove.
7. Jerry Manuel-Jerry Manuel spent time at MLB Network (MLBN) from 2011 to 2013. He appeared on MLB Tonight as an analyst. Since his departure from MLB Network (MLBN) in 2013 Manuel has been the Director of Baseball Operations at William Jessup University in northern California since 2014.
8. Mike Sweeney-Mike Sweeney's tenure as an analyst at MLB Network (MLBN) was a relatively short one since he only worked there during the 2012 season. Sweeney is now a member of the Kansas City Royals (KC) front office team as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations.
9. Mitch Williams-Mitch Williams was an analyst for MLB Network (MLBN) from 2009 to 2014. His time at MLB Network (MLBN) came to an end when he was fired and his contract was terminated as a result of an incident at a little league game in 2014 in which Williams was ejected from for actions that I do not condone under any circumstances no matter what.
There was also a subsequent lawsuit that Mitch Williams filed against both of the MLB Network (MLBN) and Deadspin after the incident occurred for wrongful termination and defamation respectively. The most surprising thing about that whole situation perhaps was that he actually won the lawsuit.
10. Tim Flannery-Tim Flannery was an analyst for MLB Network (MLBN) from 2015 to 2017. In addition to making several appearances on many of MLB Network's (MLBN) signature shows during his time there, Flannery also appeared on an episode of MLB Network (MLBN) Presents called "Mr. Padre." That episode of MLB Network (MLBN) Presents featured stories about the life and career of the late hall of fame player Tony Gwynn who played for the San Diego Padres (SD) during his entire career as Major League Baseball (MLB) player.
Final Thoughts:
1. It was nice to see that Harold Reynolds finally made an appearance on MLB Central during the network's coverage of the 2017 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2017 July 31st MLB NWTD). Up to that point, I don't think Reynolds had made too many appearances on any of MLB Network's (MLBN) regular season shows that air during the morning portion of the schedule. For the most part Harold is primarily featured on MLB Tonight during the regular season which starts airing during the late afternoon or early evening hours of the day depending on where you are watching from. It will be interesting to see if he does get the chance to make another appearance on any of the MLB Network (MLBN) morning shows once again during the 2018 regular season.
So far he has not made any appearances in 2018 on any of the regular season morning shows that MLB Network (MLBN) has had other than appearing on MLB Tonight for MLB Network's (MLBN) coverage of the 2018 MLB Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2018 MLB HOF IC) and the 2018 July 31st MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline (2018 July 31st MLB NWTD).
The off season programming schedule is a different scenario of course for Reynolds show appearances total on MLB Network (MLBN) since he has been one of the main hosts of Hot Stove over the last few years.
2. It was also nice to see Ron Darling being given the opportunity to make more appearances on the network during the 2018 regular season in addition to his body of work that he has done with his off season appearances over the last few years. With that being said though, the regular season appearances in 2018 came too late in the process for him to to move up into the top 10 for this year.
3. As was the case with my earlier post about the Top 10 MLB Network (MLBN) Hosts Right Now, there were some broadcasting sabermetrics stats that I had to leave on the cutting room floor when evaluating the analysts of MLB Network (MLBN) due to time constraints and overall post length.
4. The information that was gathered and put together about the analysts' overall contribution and body of work such as shows hosted and other appearances as well as other criteria, such as Daily Signature Show Brand Name Star Power Segments (D-S-S BNSPS), coverage of Marquee Events (ME) and more was carefully researched and vetted by me in order to provide and reflect the most accurate and most up-to-date information possible. The process for this was done through a combination of tuning in regularly as a viewer on a daily basis, taking notes and keeping track of and reviewing who did what and when by monitoring the various social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) of the MLB Network (MLBN) and their on-air talent roster of personalities as well as the various online video clip archives that can be viewed by doing a search in the Videos section of the network's Facebook page.
All of the information about the analysts' overall body of work and contribution will continue to be updated as the 2018 MLB season rolls along through the end of the 2018 regular season, postseason and the conclusion of the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings (2018 MLB WM) from Las Vegas, Nevada to be held during the early-to-middle portion of the upcoming 2018-2019 off season period of time.
It should also be noted that while I tried my best to provide the most accurate and most up-to-date information as possible, I want to apologize for any mistakes or errors that I may have made or did make while putting this blog post together before it was finally published.
5. During the 2017 season there were also a wide variety of MLB Network (MLBN) analysts who appeared on the Quick Pitch daily signature show. Unfortunately I was not able to keep track of those appearances however since Quick Pitch was on after I went to bed. The replays of the show also stopped airing for the most part after I woke up in the morning so I wasn't able to see which analysts appeared on the show.
During the few times that I was able to tune in and watch the Quick Pitch show in 2017 though it seemed like there was a vast majority of the network's analysts who made appearances on the show.
As for the 2018 season, I don't know if any of the analysts made an appearance or two on the show.
6. This is the last year that I plan on doing this Top 10 MLB Network (MLBN) Right Now series of blog posts so that I can focus more on writing about different topics relating to sports and other aspects of life.
Tim Musick
Copyright 2018
All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment