For Amy Gutierrez, the 2021 Major League Baseball season will be her 14th covering the San Francisco Giants. But unlike previous years, Gutierrez won’t be filling the role for NBC Sports Bay Area, instead landing a position with the Giants organization as a multimedia producer, reporter and community ambassador.
Gutierrez announced the move Tuesday, noting NBCSBA informed her during the offseason that her contract would not be renewed after 17 years with the network. For the last 13 years, she contributed to the network as a field reporter for the Giants, working on the game telecast with broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow. But after a year where NBC Sports was forced to make significant cuts to their regional networks nationwide, field, sideline and rinkside reporters were among the most common positions to be eliminated by the company.
“For two decades, Amy has served as a key link between our fans and the Giants through her exceptional work on our broadcasts and in the community,” Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said in a press release according to MLB.com. “We are delighted that Amy will bring her storytelling talents to the Giants and will continue to expand her reach to Giants fans everywhere.”
Gutierrez noted she’ll no longer be part of the Giants in-game coverage, but she’ll continue to interview players, also working with Krukow and Kuiper.
Being employed by the franchise rather than an independent outlet to provide editorial coverage of the team might be imperfect, but it’s no longer uncommon. Despite now working for the Giants, the scope of her interviews and coverage should remain similar to the well-regarded reporting she provided for 13 seasons with NBC Sports.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
