MLB Network "might be interested" in signing baseball reporter Jayson Stark, but so far he "hasn't made any decisions about his employment future" after being let go by ESPN last month, according to sources cited by Rob Tornoe of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Appearing on Philadelphia-based WPEN-FM last week, Stark said, "I’m definitely going to stay in baseball. In fact, there’s a very strong possibility I’ll do something very similar to what I did before. I just don’t know yet. I’m going to take my time and not rush into anything." Stark was "caught off guard when told that after 17 years, he was no longer an employee of ESPN." Stark: "I didn’t see it coming. I was really surprised by it." Stark said that he "didn’t know why ESPN let him go." He added that he was "overwhelmed with the response he’s received." Meanwhile, sports business reporter Andrew Brandt, who joined ESPN as an analyst in '11, also "was a victim" of the net's layoffs. On his weekly podcast "The Business of Sports With Andrew Brandt," he noted he "thought he was safe" as he prepared to be part of ESPN's NFL Draft coverage. He had "just re-signed his contract in February, and he was scheduled to appear on 'Outside the Lines.'" Caught "off guard by the news, Brandt interrupted" ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer for Studio Production Jack Obringer when he was being told he was let go. Brandt said, “But Jack, you guys just re-upped me in Feburary.” Obringer responded, "And we will honor that" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/9).
CHECK THE TIMING: ESPN yesterday announced it has agreed to a multiyear contract extension with Tim Tebow to continue as a college football analyst on SEC Network's traveling pregame show "SEC Nation" (ESPN). In N.Y., Mark Sanchez writes under the header, "Tim Tebow Becomes The Face Of ESPN's Layoff PR Spin." ESPN, in "trying to shift the story of Bristol bloodshed to a narrative focusing on the survivors, is hollering out each bit of extension news." In the past week the net has announced extensions for Eduardo Perez, Will Cain, Adam Amin, Julie Foudy and Don Van Natta Jr. (N.Y. POST, 5/9). NBC's Mike Florio said, "While you are ushering out recognizable names with all sorts of stories that are pointing out that these decisions weren't based on merit ... it's awkward to be extending contracts." Florio: "It's just such a weird and strange time for ESPN and some think it will get weirder and stranger as people continue to cut the cord on cable" ("PFT," NBCSN, 5/9).
