Neither Mark Grace Nor Rick Sutcliffe Likely to Take Over as Pat Hughes’ Partner

Photo Credit: Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune

The search to join the WGN Radio booth with Pat Hughes for the 2011 season (“replace Ron Santo” just doesn’t sound right) is still on, but a couple names Cubs fans regularly toss out are unlikely to sign up for the gig.

At this point, Mark Grace would be listed as “doubtful” and Rick Sutcliffe as “questionable” in handicapping the pursuit of a WGN-AM 720 Cubs broadcast partner for Pat Hughes.

Barry Axelrod, who has represented Grace and Sutcliffe for decades as both players and then broadcasters, weighed in with us Thursday regarding their availability for the WGN position created by the passing of Ron Santo.

“We’ve just had preliminary discussions (with WGN),” Axelrod told us. “There’s really nothing more than that. They both have plenty of experience and pretty good jobs. I think that as we get further down the line (the negotiations are) going to get a little harder. They both are gainfully employed and under contract. I’m not saying anything is not possible, but … ” Chicago Tribune.

Shrug. Most folks who’ve actually listened to Grace as a color guy are not impressed. Other names in the search include Dan Plesac, Keith Moreland, and Sarge, Gary Matthews.

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Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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