New faces are coming to Bally Sports Detroit.
The network, owned by Diamond Sports Group, has hired former MLB players Cameron Maybin and Todd Jones to work Detroit Tigers games on the TV broadcast throughout the 2023 season, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Craig Monroe has been elevated as the primary in-game analyst, alongside returning play-by-play announcer Matt Shepard. The 45-year-old Monroe, who played six of his nine seasons for the Tigers and competed in the 2006 World Series, joined the talent lineup in 2012.
Bally Sports Detroit is expected to make an announcement Thursday.
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Hall of Fame pitcher Jack Morris, a three-time World Series champion, will not return to the TV booth for the 2023 season. After promoting Monroe, Bally Sports Detroit offered Morris a lesser package of assignments, but he declined and the two sides parted.
Morris, 67, began working as an analyst in 2013 and started covering the Tigers in 2015. He served as a regular member of the broadcast from 2019-22. He was suspended 23 days in 2021 for an apparent racist comment toward Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani.
There are six members of the Tigers’ broadcast team in 2023: Shepard (play-by-play), Monroe (primary in-game analyst), Kirk Gibson (in-game analyst), Dan Petry (primary studio analyst), Maybin (studio analyst) and Jones (studio analyst).
Petry and Maybin will rotate into the TV booth as in-game analysts.
Monroe is scheduled to work approximately 130 games, followed by Petry (approximately 100 games), Gibson (about 40 games), Maybin (about 30 games) and Jones (about 15 games). Monroe has been assigned around 100 games as the in-game analyst and about 30 games as the pregame and postgame studio analyst.
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Maybin, 35, arrives at Bally Sports Detroit after a one-year stint with the New York Yankees’ YES Network and the Chicago Cubs’ Marquee Network. Both networks changed broadcast plans this offseason and did not retain Maybin for 2023.
Along with the Tigers, Maybin will continue as an on-air contributor at MLB Network.
Before broadcasting, Maybin played 1,162 games for 10 different teams in 15 seasons from 2007-21. The Tigers selected him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2005 draft. The outfielder competed for the Tigers in three seasons — 2007, 2016 and 2020 — and hit .289 with six home runs in 132 games.
When the Tigers called up Maybin for his MLB debut, Monroe was designated for assignment and never played another game in the organization. The decision from the Tigers’ front office, widely considered a bold move, happened in August 2007 amid an intense pennant race.
The Tigers traded Maybin three times: to the Florida Marlins in 2007 as part of the franchise-altering Miguel Cabrera package, to the Los Angeles Angels in 2016 for pitcher Victor Alcántara and to the Cubs in 2020 for infielder Zack Short.
Maybin retired in January 2022.
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Jones, 54, has previously appeared on the Tigers’ TV broadcast.
He’s known for his 16-year, 982-game playing career. The right-hander pitched in eight seasons for the Tigers, from 1997-2001 and 2006-08, and remains the franchise’s all-time leader with 235 saves. He received the nickname “Roller Coaster” from legendary radio broadcaster Ernie Harwell.
In June 2019, Gibson — diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease — decided his health wouldn’t allow him to finish the final game of a 10-day road trip, from New York to Baltimore to Atlanta. Jones, who lived in Atlanta, answered a call from the production staff and filled in as the in-game analyst for the series finale.
Now, Jones has an established role with the network.
He notched 319 saves in his career and ranks 22nd on the all-time saves list. He led the American League with 42 saves in 2000, which established a single-season record for the Tigers. In 2011, José Valverde topped Jones’ record with 49 saves.
Jones announced his retirement in September 2008.
Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, is prepared to file for bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg, which could result in MLB teams losing lucrative broadcasting-rights revenue. In the Detroit market, Bally Sports televises the Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings.
Bally Sports Detroit will air seven Tigers games in spring training: March 5 (Minnesota Twins), March 8 (Washington Nationals), March 10 (Yankees), March 13 (Tampa Bay Rays), March 17 (Yankees), March 20 (Toronto Blue Jays) and March 22 (Braves).
Opening Day is slated for March 30 against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cameron Maybin, Todd Jones joining Detroit Tigers broadcasts in 2023
