Baseball is tradition. But that shouldn’t mean the same postseason voices year after year telling the story of October. In 2022, Joe Davis took over as FOX’s lead MLB play-by-play announcer, succeeding Joe Buck, who left for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
Davis is sharp, capable, and professional. While he didn’t make Dodgers fans forget the legendary Vin Scully, he has filled the chair as well as anyone could expect in Los Angeles since 2017. Buck called 24 World Series matchups from 1996 to 2021. There’s that famous baseball tradition again: it takes 10 men and a forklift for baseball to make a change in the booth—or, in Buck’s case, $75 million from ESPN.
I’m thinking more about the former players who analyze postseason games in the booth and the studio. Lead FOX analyst John Smoltz retired in 2009 and has been in the No. 1 chair since 2016. Baseball didn’t have full-time replay until 2014—five years after he retired. In just the last few years, MLB has added a pitch clock, ghost runners, banned shifts, implemented a universal designated hitter, and expanded the playoffs. Next year, they are adding ABS, the Automatic Balls-and-Strikes system. Yet there are few national postseason analysts who have first-hand experience with any of these changes on the field.
Meanwhile, look at the NFL.
Recently retired stars are flooding into studios and broadcast booths, bringing fresh perspective, energy, and personality.
The NFL Churns Stars
Tom Brady, who retired in 2022, signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with FOX to become their lead NFL analyst. J.J. Watt, also retired in 2022, moved quickly into CBS’s No. 2 booth alongside Ian Eagle. Matt Ryan, retired in 2024, joined The NFL Today as a studio analyst.
Eli Manning retired in 2020, Richard Sherman in 2021, and Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2022. Derek Carr, a first-year retiree, impressed in his debut as a studio analyst for the Chargers-Chiefs game in Brazil on YouTube. Tony Romo retired in 2017 and, at 45, is now a seasoned veteran behind the mic. Not long ago, he was the young hotshot predicting plays before they happened.
If he were calling baseball games, he would be among the younger voices in the sport.
The NFL is actively turning former stars into must-watch voices, giving fans insider anecdotes, fresh perspectives, and analysis of rule changes—all from personalities they remember from recent Sunday afternoons. Their broadcasts feel alive, current, and relevant because the voices are too.
Baseball? Not so much.
Same Storytellers, Different Year
Analysts like David Cone (retired 2001), Eduardo Pérez (retired 2008), and A.J. Pierzynski (retired 2016) have been part of ESPN’s national coverage for years. Solid, knowledgeable, reliable—but very much “been there, done that.”
Ron Darling, one of my favorite postseason voices, is insightful, opinionated, funny, and passionate. He spends the season in the Mets booth and was part of the 1986 World Series-winning team—but he retired 30 years ago.
The FOX studio panel leans heavily on Pedro Martinez, Derek Jeter, and David Ortiz, who retired in 2009, 2014, and 2016, respectively. All three are Hall of Fame winners who can relate that experience to fans. However, without watching a second of 2025 coverage, I already know what they’ll bring: Ortiz will be loud and unpredictable, Jeter could be more engaging if he truly opened up, and Martínez, the best of the bunch, may go off the rails with his analysis while the panel reacts to his rants and raves.
They’re good—but I know their rhythm before a pitch is even thrown.
Why don’t more recently retired MLB players jump into broadcasting?
Part of it is lifestyle. Unlike NFL players, many MLB stars play into their late 30s or even 40s. Their retirements often lead directly to front-office, advisory, or executive roles. Buster Posey, for example, retired in 2021 and is now the San Francisco Giants’ president of baseball operations. Others want to stay in their hometown markets, coach, or step away from the grind. Keeping up with 162 regular-season games plus the playoffs is exhausting, and doing it on TV requires a different kind of preparation—studying stats across all teams, tracking endless numbers, avoiding bias, and entertaining a national audience.
That’s a lot to ask, even for someone with a World Series ring and years of clubhouse stories to tell.
NEEDED: New Blood
The lack of new blood isn’t a critique of those already in the booth. Smoltz is excellent. Davis is polished. Ortiz, Jeter, and Martínez bring credibility. But credibility alone doesn’t make broadcasts exciting.
MLB’s national coverage could benefit from the same boldness we see in the NFL, where former stars jump in immediately, unafraid to challenge norms, speak their minds, and inject personality. Imagine calling a playoff game with insights still fresh, memory sharp, and voice current.
The postseason is baseball’s most valuable stage. This is when casual fans pay attention, when narratives are written, and when legends are remembered. Right now, the game has incredible stories to tell, yet the voices telling them are largely the same ones we’ve heard for years.
MLB has to encourage and cultivate recently retired players—charismatic, game-savvy talent up on the latest rules and trends in an ever-changing, numbers-driven analytical baseball world. Adam Wainwright, who retired in 2023 with two World Series titles as a member of the Cardinals, is a step in the right direction. Hunter Pence, who won two rings with the Giants in 2012 and 2014, will do early-round coverage for ESPN.
Good first moves, but it’s up to baseball to farm more recently retired, high-quality talent and steer them into the booth.
October baseball is magical and memorable. What it needs is the guts to let new voices tell the stories. The postseason shouldn’t just be a showcase of the game on the field—it should feel alive in the booth and in the studio.
The sport can honor tradition while embracing the new. The postseason is the perfect time for baseball to refresh, to excite, and to prove that even in a sport steeped in history, innovation matters.
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With decades of experience behind the mic, John Lund is more than a sports commentator and weekly columnist for Barrett Media—he’s a storyteller, humorist, and true fan. He’s hosted shows in mid sized markets like Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City to larger cities like San Francisco, Detroit and Dallas. John has even hosted nationally on ESPN Radio. Known for his sharp wit and deep sports knowledge, John welcomes your feedback. Reach him on X @JohnLundRadio or by email at John@JohnLundRadio.com.
