Will Pete Rose be in the Fox studios again for the 2016 MLB season? Some fans were curious about where the relationship between Rose and Fox stood after he left their Postseason coverage following Friday’s World Series Game 3, but it was later revealed that he left early because of a pre-planned engagement (which may or may not been a series of autograph signings at a Las Vegas casino).
In a column for CBS Sports, Jon Heyman discusses Rose’s chances of reinstatement by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. Heyman isn’t exactly high on the possibility of Rose being reinstated, saying at one point that “reinstatement is the biggest long shot Pete’s ever backed.”
Heyman’s column also features an interesting blurb from Fox about Rose’s future with the network, and how they intend to bring him back for the 2016 season.
Fox is said to be happy with Rose. Fox spokesman Dan Bell, in fact, says they’re so pleased with Rose’s performance this year they intend to bring him back for more next season. They have an eclectic group, and it’s hard to take your eye off them, I’ll say that.
Manfred also gave Heyman his thoughts on Pete Rose, TV analyst.
Fox dutifully warned MLB before they made the hiring of Rose official. And as far as that goes, Manfred told CBS Sports on Saturday, “The man’s entitled to work. I’m fine with it.”
Did the Rose as an analyst thing work well for Fox? Well, maybe. At some points, he was hilarious. At others, cringeworthy. But Rose got people talking, and while that’s obviously not the best criteria for choosing an analyst, it at least helped Fox’s MLB coverage stand out a bit from previous years. There are only so many bland analysts chirping on the same talking points that one can take, and while Rose may be not an upper tier analyst, he’s at least different and interesting. At this point, we’ll take it.
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