Alex Rodriguez Joining ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball Booth While Remaining With Fox

A-Rod will still be working with Fox while on ESPN’s flagship baseball broadcast. Matt Vasgersian is the new play-by-play man.

Alex Rodriguez will be the third member of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball booth while maintaining his current position with Fox, ESPN announced Tuesday. (Michael McCarthy of Sporting News first reported the news.) 

Matt Vasgersian was also announced as the new play-by-play man, replacing Dan Shulman. 

Last season was Rodriguez’s first as a full-time analyst for Fox. He debuted as a guest broadcaster during the 2015 World Series and took on a larger role in the 2016 playoffs. His work has mostly been as a studio analyst, though he has served as the color commentator in the booth for a handful of games. In either case, he has been widely praised. Regardless of his reputation as a PED user, his knowledge and passion for the game are undeniable. 

Rodriguez replaces​ Aaron Boone, who accepted the Yankees manager job earlier this offseason. (Coincidentally, Rodriguez also replaced Boone as the third baseman in New York after Boone was injured in an offseason basketball game.) Shulman stepped away from his role in order to spend more time at home in Toronto. 

“I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my broadcasting career,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “It’s an exciting time in baseball and now I get that front row seat to tell that story every Sunday night on ESPN as well as calling my fourth post season on Fox where I started this journey.”

The new trio’s first game together will be an Opening Day broadcast of Giants-Dodgers on March 29, a Thursday. They’ll also call the finale of the series on that Sunday.