New York Yankees fan and Pat McAfee Show producer Ty Schmit broke news of Yoshinobu Yamamoto joining the Bronx Bombers on Thursday night. Only Yamamoto didn’t sign with the Yankees… and Schmit is not an MLB insider.
Recapping the saga on Friday’s episode of PMS, Schmit explained how it all went down and why he doesn’t regret entering the MLB hot stove.
Apparently the whole thing played out at the PMS Christmas party. Schmit posted on X that Yamamoto signed with New York, allegedly scooping the landing spot of the biggest remaining MLB free agent.
This is the new face of Baseball @JeffPassan… deal with it pic.twitter.com/BhoTGKqx5k
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 22, 2023
But Yamamoto in fact signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $325 million over 12 years.
McAfee laid the whole thing out to open Friday’s episode of PMS.
.@tyschmit was the new face of baseball for a moment last night and broke some news..
Yoshinobu Yamamoto then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/TMHG2cxCKM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 22, 2023
Then Schmit gave his side of the story. In his telling, Schmit never intended to come across as a journalist or mislead anyone.
“I’m already trying to order a Yamamoto jersey in that moment,” Schmit said. “I cannot wait to wear this thing on the show next week.”
And McAfee sees no reason to cut it out.
“A lot of people are calling for you to get fired,” McAfee said. “I want to let you know to step back in that batter’s box the next time you get a source. That was the biggest story in baseball, maybe we don’t try to jump right to the top of the entire thing. But I appreciate that it came from a good place.”
Pat McAfee Show producer Ty Schmit issues an "apology" over failed MLB hot stove scoop pic.twitter.com/Wi8NgmXiTh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 22, 2023
Then the crew addressed the connections to ESPN after many online tried to point out Schmit works for ESPN.
“That’s not true,” McAfee reminded the audience.
Disney licenses PMS to air a portion of the show on ESPN each weekday.
“But our show is on ESPN and we’ve got to remember that,” McAfee said.
Of course. Definitely.
Later in the show, ESPN senior MLB insider Jeff Passan responded to the saga, calling Schmit a “spectacular scumbag” in a Lou Holtz voice, in somewhat of an ode to Schmit.
After McAfee flashed the Schmit photo on screen again, Passan said “I hope that’s not the new face of baseball, baseball has enough issues already.”
"Your sources were named Jack, Jim and Jose"
Jeff Passan dreads the day Ty Schmit is the face of MLB insiderdom pic.twitter.com/PZZDEqaaZp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 22, 2023
As with all things PMS, it’s hard to tell whether Schmit truly thought he had a scoop or was just trolling the entire time. Recapping the Yamamoto news and Schmit’s involvement carried a pretty entertaining opening half hour.
But defiantly denying their connection to ESPN is a strong reaction from PMS. No matter who signs the paychecks, the show’s reputation ties back to the worldwide leader.
And while Schmit may not be a journalist, ESPN is in theory a reputable media company. A visible personality connected to the company making a very public mistake does trace back to ESPN, regardless of everyone’s best intentions or the org chart.
[The Pat McAfee Show on YouTube]
