Reports surfaced yesterday that New York Mets radio announcer Wayne Randazzo would depart the team to join the Los Angeles Angels as a member of its television crew. Evan Roberts of WFAN’s Carton & Roberts was not surprised Randazzo was moving on.
Randazzo stepped into a fill-in role at AppleTV+ during the baseball season, and Roberts said he was aware that the radio voice would be exiting the team’s radio booth during that assignment.
“You know when it was over? I don’t know if you realize this,” Roberts said. “There was an AppleTV+ game, the Friday night package. The guy who was broadcasting got sick, probably a COVID thing. It was a Met game, so they called Wayne in at the last second to do the AppleTV+ game. He did a really good job. He’s a solid broadcaster. As soon as he filled in I said ‘It’s over. He’s gonna be a TV guy. Done.’
“He was good on TV and you just knew — whether it’s AppleTV+ or it’s another team — he’s getting a TV gig. As much as I love radio play-by-play — and to me it’s more important — I’ll be honest with you, I care a hell of a lot more about Howie Rose and John Sterling than I do Gary Cohen and Michael Kay. It’s not a knock on them. I’ll say this about Gary, Gary was one of the greatest radio play-by-play voices of all time. Radio announcer — to me — is a bigger deal, but the TV guys gets paid more. The TV gig is more prestigious for some reason, so you knew the first chance at a TV gig, Wayne was gone.”
Randazzo’s move to the Angels puts in question the future of Matt Vasgersian with the club. Vasgersian has served as the team’s primary television voice for the past two seasons, working the majority of the 2022 season from a remote studio. He has previously worked national broadcasts for ESPN, FOX, and MLB Network.
