The New York Mets are bringing their games back to Entercom after agreeing to a seven year deal with WCBS 880 to be their radio home. WCBS replaces WOR, which held the Mets’ radio rights for the past five years, and is the sister station for long time Mets’ radio home WFAN. The next step in the process is settling on how the broadcast booth is set up, and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post is reporting that there could be a shakeup.
Long time play by play man Howie Rose is expected to make the switch, but the second voice in the booth could change. Rose has partnered with Josh Lewin since 2012, but Marchand notes that WOR lost money on their partnership with the Mets, so a change could be made to try and boost ratings. One option to replace Lewin could be Wayne Randazzo, who hosts the pre and post game coverage for the Mets on WOR and is considered to be a rising talent in the industry. Randazzo has also filled in when either Lewin or Rose is away and has stepped up to do play by play on SNY when Gary Cohen has taken time off.
Another factor to monitor here is how Ed Coleman, who has covered the Mets for WFAN, fits in. Coleman is reportedly mulling retirement and has taken a reduced role in travel since he is not a part of the WOR broadcasts. That could change with this new deal, and Coleman could resume his role as the pre and post game host for the Mets (a job he held at WFAN until the team’s departure for WOR) depending on how the situation with Lewin and Randazzo shakes out. Coleman could also stick with being the team’s beat reporter, a situation Marchand points out could become easier with WCBS producing the games. The Mets only allow personnel from their official radio network to use the team charter, so Coleman has had to fly commercially to cover the Mets on road trips since they switched to WOR. Now that the Mets’ games will be back in the Entercom family, Coleman may opt to cover more trips on the beat since he can utilize the charter to get to assignments.
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