Following the death of longtime analyst Jerry Remy last fall, NESN is in discussions with several potential analysts to help replace the venerable broadcaster on its Red Sox telecasts this season.
Multiple industry sources indicate that NESN is talking to both Kevin Youkilis and Will Middlebrooks about working as color commentators with veteran play-by-play man Dave O'Brien for the 2022 season. Popular analyst Dennis Eckersley will return, too, but, by his own choice, will work only about half the schedule.
Remy, who had battled cancer for more than a decade, had been a part of NESN's telecasts since 1988 and was immensely popular with viewers.
It's possible that NESN will utilize a three-man booth at times, as it has done in the past when it had Remy and Eckerlsey teaming with O'Brien. Neither Youkilis nor Middlebrooks has completed a deal with the regional sports network and talks are ongoing.
Youkilis contributed to NESN's programming last season, taking part in pre-game shows via Zoom. Youkilis, drafted by the Red Sox in 2001, spent parts of nine seasons with the Red Sox and was part of both the 2004 and 2007 championship teams. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2012, and later finished his MLB career with the Yankees in 2013.
Since then, Youkilis has opened his own brewery in California, Yoma Brewing Company. He's married to Tom Brady's sister, Julie.
Middlebrooks, meanwhile, gained media experience in recent years while doing work for CBS Sports HQ as a baseball analyst. He also co-hosts a podcast Wake and Rake, with Danny Vietti. Middlebrooks is married to broadcaster Jenny Dell, who, ironically, once worked for NESN as an in-game reporter. Dell currently works both basketball and football telecasts for CBS, serving as a sideline reporter.
With Remy ailing for the second half of last season, the Red Sox sometimes utilized Lenny DiNardo as a game analyst. As it stands now, it's likely that DiNardo will go back to studio work for NESN on the network's pregame and postgame shows.
It's unclear for now whether NESN will have its announcing crew traveling for road games. Like nearly every other broadcast team during the pandemic, NESN has had its crew handle road games from its home studio, situated in Watertown, Mass.
The Red Sox would prefer NESN send its announcers back on the road, but it also has been a big cost-saving move for the network. Having proven that it can produce the games without its announcers on site, it may elect to keep O'Brien and whomever he's working with in the studio. Eckersley, who was verbally assailed by David Price on the team charter in 2017, has made it known that he would prefer not to travel.