Notes: Regional networks, Hall of Fame, Jared Walker

Jan 31, 2023 - 1:01 PM

Checking in on some baseball news and notes on a Tuesday morning.

The looming bankruptcy of the Bally Sports regional networks, which we talked about last week, was analyzed by Ben Clemens at FanGraphs, who looked at the potential ramifications for local MLB broadcasts:

From a league perspective, all this turmoil brings both risk and opportunity. The risk is clear: there’s a chance teams won’t receive rights payments this year. That’d be bad, and likely lead to interminable legal wrangling to boot. The opportunity is nebulous, but it’s there: the league might have an unprecedented chance to partner with its distribution channels, something that Rob Manfred and his lieutenants are surely strategizing about already.

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Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs looked at recent Hall of Fame voting trends, and forecasted players who will be elected in the next five years. That includes three former Dodgers, but a long wait for Chase Utley, who will join the ballot next year.

David Laurila at FanGraphs looked at Utley’s HOF case as well, calling him underrated and “worthy of a plaque in Cooperstown.”

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Jared Walker, an infielder drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round in 2014 who reached as high as Double-A Tulsa, announced on Twitter that his playing days are over and that he’ll be a hitting coach in the Giants’ system.

Walker turns 27 on Saturday.