The MLB playoffs are mostly set heading into the postseason with just one more game left to decide who gets in, as the American League's second wild card will decided with the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers on Monday night and while Fox won't have games until the championship series, everyone is wondering who will take over for Tim McCarver next year.
The news has been reported thoroughly that McCarver will be retiring after this run in the playoffs in 2013 from Fox, leaving an open spot in the booth next to Joe Buck and that has led to some fierce speculation. Numerous former players and other announcers have been mentioned as possible replacement candidates, while SI.com reporter Richard Deitsch, who is the best media reported out there, says some names include Harold Reynolds, John Smoltz and Tom Verducci, with Reynolds being a favorite.
Reynolds works for the MLB Network and he would be a "safe" option for the booth for Buck, although many have criticized him for the same reasons people criticize McCarver. Some other interesting options could be Smoltz or Verducci, as both bring solid commentary and analysis when they work games and Verducci is one of the best baseball writers working out there in all the nation.
The MLB postseason schedule will start off with the wild card tiebreaker on Monday on TBS at 8 pm with the Rangers and Rays and the winner of the game will head to Cleveland to play the Indians on Wednesday. In between that is the NL wild card matchup with the Reds and the Pirates, making their first postseason appearance in two decades and that game will be on TBS as well at the same time. The AL wild card game will also be on TBS.
After the wild card games play out, the division series will pick up and those games will be on TBS and the MLB Network with the Los Angeles Dodger sand the Atlanta Braves playing each other and those games start on Thursday. The Cardinals will be playing the winners of the NL wild card and those games start on Thursday as well and continue into the weekend. Sunday will have both NL game 3's on TBS with times coming and on Monday and Wednesday those games will play out if necessary.
The American league divisional series starts on Fridays with the Red Sox taking on the wild card winner, while the Tigers and the Athletics will go at it again after last season. Those games will be on TBS and the MLB Network as well and then the championship series will pick up the following week with the teams that win out.
