ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” viewership may have been down in Alex Rodriguez’s rookie season, but the plan is to stick with the crew of A-Rod, Matt Vasgersian and Jessica Mendoza for next year, The Post has learned.
While Rodriguez and Vasgersian were always coming back, there were questions about if Mendoza would return. Her contract is up at the end of the calendar year, fueling industry speculation that she could be pushed off the SNB gig to make it even more the A-Rod show.
But after a year in which viewership dropped 3 percent, and a week of machinations, ESPN plans to keep SNB exactly how it is, which includes reporter Buster Olney.
“We fully support this team and believe they’ve done terrific work throughout the year,” an ESPN spokesman said. “We’re planning for Matt, Jessica, Alex and Buster to return for a second season together.”
While this seems relatively straightforward, it was a little less so. Last week, The Post and other outlets began pursuing the angle of A-Rod’s potential role in meddling in Mendoza’s future.
As word surfaced, ESPN’s top decision-makers talked last weekend, according to sources, to try to figure out how to deal with the potential stories. They extinguished them when ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro put the stamp on bringing the crew back. It should be noted contract terms with Mendoza still must be worked out.
Though there was no firm proof that Rodriguez was attempting a coup to rid the booth of Mendoza, it seemed less than coincidental that on Tuesday, A-Rod put a picture on Instagram of him and Mendoza, saying she has been his “anchor” all season.
Perhaps that is true, but Rodriguez, as his nature, has displayed a bit of jealousy of Mendoza. While “Good Morning America” seldom used him and he is no longer with the program, Mendoza has hosted GMA on the weekends, which did not go unnoticed by A-Rod, according to sources.
Even so, the group has gotten along. Vasgersian, Rodriguez and Mendoza even tried A-Rod and Jennifer Lopez’s workout, TruFusion. J-Lo, by the way, has attended the majority of the games.
But it is on the air is where they are ultimately judged. The actual broadcast has improved over the year, though there is still far too much — besides the game — going on.
There is also an imbalance between A-Rod and Mendoza. While she is more likable and genuine than Rodriguez, he had 696 major league homers, which gives him more long-term knowledge to lean on.
Mendoza, an Olympic softball player, was not helped by ex-ESPN president John Skipper when he put her in the SNB booth a little prematurely. She would have been better positioned if she could have done a midweek game for a few years and then got promoted. Her first time to Fenway Park was the week she was calling a Red Sox game on “Sunday Night Baseball” a couple of years ago.
As Jason Witten is learning on “Monday Night Football,” it is hard to grow into a job with the harshest spotlight on you. Add to that the extreme attention as the first woman MLB TV analyst and A-Rod with his outsized presence and fragility, and she has had to deal with more than most broadcasters.
Meanwhile, A-Rod grew a bit less scripted as the season wore on. He does have a true passion for baseball and, like as a player, the more he lets his natural ability take over, the better off he will be. Vasgersian brought in Olney more than the previous play-by-player, Dan Shulman, did, allowing Olney to become almost a third analyst and demonstrate his deep knowledge of the game.
“Sunday Night” is a tough one for ESPN to make special because each broadcast begins with an 0-2 count. The same exact game has been played the previous two nights. It is hard to make it feel unique. For next year and the foreseeable future, they will go with more of the same.