A pair of former MLB players are joining MLB Network.
On Tuesday, the network announced that Alex Avila and Cameron Maybin would be analysts for the network in 2022. The pair “will appear across MLB Network’s studio programming.”
Here’s more from the release.
“Baseball has been such a big part of my life and joining MLB Network is an incredible opportunity to stay close to the game I love so much,” said Avila. “I am looking forward to getting into the studio and sharing unique player insight into what is happening on the diamond.”
“I’m very excited to be joining MLB Network,” said Maybin. “Like any former player making the transition to the next phase of their professional life, there is the unknown, but landing at MLB Network along with some of the other opportunities I’ll be afforded, is exactly where I want to be.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome Alex and Cameron to the team,” said Marc Caiafa, MLB Network Senior Vice President of Production. “When they announced their retirements this offseason, we jumped at the chance to bring them aboard. Having their fresh-off the-field perspective will most certainly add to our studio programming throughout the season.”
Both Avila and Maybin retired after the 2021 season, and thus, each has little media experience. Avila worked as an MLB Network analyst during the 2021 Postseason, while Maybin was announced as a Cubs analyst on Marquee *and* a Yankees analyst on YES earlier on Tuesday.
As a general rule, I appreciate it when networks add analysts who are recently retired because it seems like they know what they’re talking about and can’t play the “back in my day…” card. Here’s hoping Avila and Maybin continue that trend.
