Big news on the national baseball stage, as Fox has made significant changes to its national broadcast booth for the 2016 season.
Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci are out of the booth as lead analysts, and will be replaced by John Smoltz as the new primary color man. Smoltz will join Joe Buck, who returns to do play-by-play on those national Fox broadcasts. That will include, most notably, the All-Star Game, the playoffs, and the World Series.
Although Verducci has been appreciated by most observers, Reynolds is not particularly popular in online circles. His view of the game is often antiquated, and, let’s be honest, he frequently says silly things. How or if Verducci and Reynolds will still be involved in Fox broadcasts is not quite clear to me.
I have limited experience with Smoltz, but my recollection is that he’s pretty good. Losing Verducci isn’t great, though I’m no fan of the three-man booth.