MLB’s $1.65 billion media deal reshapes how Guardians fans can view baseball

“No clear cut difference in this arrangement as pertaining to how it affects the team’s payroll. It sounds like it was probably pretty much the same amount of money, the same deal as it was before MLB and ESPN reached their agreement,” Hoynes noted.

The real benefit might be for Guardians fans outside Northeast Ohio who will potentially gain new avenues to watch games. Anyone who previously lacked streaming capabilities might find easier access through ESPN’s distribution network.

This deal appears to be part of a longer strategy by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to eventually bring all MLB broadcasting under a single umbrella – though that vision faces significant obstacles from high-revenue teams.

“Manfred really wants this to expand to get all 30 teams under one umbrella,” Hoynes said. “But that’s going to take a long time. Other teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers have their own TV contracts that pay them millions upon millions and that’s going to be a hard fight to get those guys to give up.”

For the Guardians and the other five teams included in this initial arrangement, it provides stability and security in an otherwise volatile media landscape. MLB.com’s track record of quality production ensures fans will continue to receive a premium viewing experience.

This deal merely scratches the surface of baseball’s evolving media strategy. The inclusion of NBC bringing MLB back to that network, Netflix taking over production of the Home Run Derby, and continued agreements with Fox and TBS for postseason coverage show just how complex the baseball viewing experience has become.

Want to hear more about how this massive media deal will reshape baseball viewing for Cleveland fans? Listen to the full episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast with Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes for an in-depth breakdown of what these changes really mean for baseball’s future and how you’ll watch the Guardians in 2026 and beyond.

Podcast transcript

Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsey. Big news in terms of how Guardians fans are going to be able to watch their team consume the MLB product next year via television, via streaming and all other ways that they watch their, their players. A new $1.65 billion three year deal between Major League Baseball and ESPN is now in place. They bring in ESPN and they sort of continue to go along that, you know, there had been talk during the regular season that the, the deal was going to end and there wasn’t going to be baseball on ESPN anymore. Not the case. They now extend their, their deal with espn. They also bring in NBC and they rework the way things are going to look nationally in terms of networks that carry the, the Major League Baseball product. But the exciting part is that baseball will be on NBC with Sunday Night Baseball on NBC games there for the first time in many, many years. But ESPN’s ability to, you know, cover baseball is, is going to continue. Netflix will take over production and distribution of the Home Run Derby, the Field of dreams games and 47 games from the World Baseball Classic that they will stream exclusively to Japan. Fox and TBS will continue to carry playoff games including the World Series and the All Star Game on Fox. But you know the major thing to communicate here for fans of the Guardians, everything’s going to stay the same in terms of the way they saw the games this year. MLB will continue to produce them and they’ll just be additionally available through on streaming through espn.

Paul Hoynes: Right Joe? Just you know, a huge deal. As you said in February, this MLB backed out of their arrangement with ESPN with three years left and but you know, they reengaged and they got a huge deal here. Kind of a lot of moving parts and one of those moving parts is, involves the Guardians. Padres, Mariners, Twins, Diamondbacks and Rockies. ESPN purchased the in market streaming rights to those six teams. And if you remember, MLB has, has been producing their games after the fanduels fell through for these clubs. So yeah, interesting arrangement and you know nothing’s going to change. It’s just another way for Guardians fans to watch their team tv. The TV crew that you know that has done Guardians games, Rick Manning, Matt Underwood, Andre not is going to stay the same but this is just gives you another avenue to, you know, purchase the streaming rights.

Joe Noga: So there you, you answered pretty much the first question. I think that a lot of people had will same and I, I think in, in 2026 the games are due to look the same way that they did on TV as they did in, in 2025. So that’s, you know, at least reassuring in some way for Guardians fans. That way, you know, the way you can purchase the packages, the MLB app and, and you know, watching your games on, on your devices like your iPad or your phone, you can, you can, you’ll still be able to do that, at least for 2026. Beyond 2026, we’re, we’re not sure. It’s a, it’s a little more uncertain. Right?

Paul Hoynes: Yeah. Yeah. You know, the, I think right now ESPN is still, you know, kind of gearing up to handle this. So many different moves. So, you know, right now the situation will stay the same. But as ESPN gets its feet under its legs, under them and you know, kind of bulks up to, to handle, you know, to get their process in place, it’s going to take at least a year. I think things will stay the same for 2026 and then we’ll see what happens after that. But another thing, Joe, we should add that from the people I’ve talked to, no clear cut, you know, difference in, in this arrangement as pertaining to how it affects the team’s payroll. Think just people haven’t really seen the details yet, but it sounds like it was probably pretty much the same, you know, the same amount of money, the same deal as it was before MLB and ESPN split, you know, stopped negotiating in February.

Joe Noga: Oh, you pretty much read my mind there. Because the next logical question for a fan hearing about this deal is, you know, how’s this going to impact the Guardian’s bottom line? Are they going to make more money off of this deal that they can then turn around and invest back in the team? So directly to the payroll question that you were answering there is, you know, will, will fans see this pay off in the ability to go out and sign more players? And right now that, that question is sort of unclear a little. You know, we haven’t gotten a really yes or no answer on something like that. But I would imagine that with everything staying as status quo, can’t see them going out and spending any sort of insane amount on a free agent based on this deal. But eventually maybe that’ll change.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think down the road this is, you know, this, they’re playing the Guardians and the, you know, the five other teams that have their games produced by MLB are playing the long game here. They’re, they’re, they’re hoping for a bigger payoff at the end of this, at the end of this thing. They’re you know, perhaps maybe more MLB teams coming under the, the wings of MLB and ESPN and, and in a way that they may profit more from that.

Joe Noga: So really the, the to benefit most from this are guardians fans who are maybe outside of the Cleveland market who now will have increased or added ability or avenues to view the team that maybe they didn’t have before. Maybe there’s a person who didn’t have access to any sort of streaming capabilities in the past that now, now that it’s being distributed by espn, it falls under that umbrella and they’ll be able to access it that way. So, you know, in, in that regard, I think it’s a step forward and a positive. Do you see any drawbacks from this? Or just, you know, there are other teams, you got to think the big markets like New York and LA and, and that, that, that can go out and, and use their TV contracts in, in ways that benefit their roster and benefit their team, you know, greatly. And, and really that’s just not something that these six teams in particular right now can, can really go out and do.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, you know, I think it’s more, you know, kind of. I think Manfred, the commissioner really wants this to expand to get all 30 teams under one umbrella. Can. I think there’s, you know, can they, they can present a stronger front that way. But that’s, that’s going to take a long time, Joe. Like you said, other teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers have their own TV contracts that, that pay them millions upon millions and you’re not going to get the, that’s going to be a hard fight to get those guys to give that up. You know, I think this is just, I don’t know if it’s a temporary solution, but it’s a solution where the guardians know what they’re, know what they’re going to get. You know, they have a really pretty good idea what, what they’re going to get from the TV contract and it’s, it’s a safe haven. They know the games are going to be produced. Well, they know what MLB has a great track record in this doing this. MLB.com so, you know, we’ll see. But right now I think, you know, it’s almost like a status quo situation. I don’t know, maybe it is kind of a growth, a growth industry. Maybe there’s a couple more teams that, Lou, you know, that, that come come into this thing and, and see, I’m sure everyone is, is waiting, you know, because what Milwaukee and Cincinnati before last season had agreed to, you know, have MLB producer games and then went back to fan duels. So, you know, I think there’s always some borderline teams that, that could, you know, jump one way or the other.

Joe Noga: Yeah, it’ll be interesting to just follow and see which teams fall on which side as the, as the sort of moves forward into the next three years. All right, Hoynsi, before we started recording here, you and I were having a little conversation. Randy Jones, a former Cy Young winner with the San Diego Padres, passed away recently. The team made an announcement and the interesting part here, this was a guy who, you know, really was a lifelong Padre, I guess, after having success early in his career there and then, you know, went on to be just a mainstay in San Diego. And the story is we were looking at some of the numbers and just diving back into his baseball reference page and just looking at the differences between, you know, what a Cy Young winner from the mid-70s almost 50 years ago, the guy won the Cy Young year I was born, so I don’t really have a lot of skin in this fight. But just looking at his baseball reference page and the numbers and the thing that jumps out at you is how different and how, how differently starting pitching is viewed nowadays in terms of the workload and what really made a top line, you know, starting pitcher in those days. I’m going to read his, his, his stat line from 1976, the year he won the Cy Young in the National League. 22 wins, 14 losses, 2 point ER, started a league leading 40 games that year and threw 25 complete games. 25 complete games. He pitched 315 in a third innings and, and allowed, he allowed 274 hits in that SE and won the Cy Young in a year. He allowed 274 hits and he only struck out 93 batters total in 315 innings that season. Compare that to, you know, just what, what the averages for pitchers are these days and it’s just really not even close. Derek Skubal, this year the American League Cy Young Award winner this season he struck out 241 batters and allowed 141 hits in significantly fewer innings. 195 innings this year for Tarek Skubal. So just the differences there between what’s expected of a modern day left handed starting pitcher and what was really common for a guy like Randy Jones back then. You’re not, you’re Talking about a 6 foot, 178 pound lefty in Randy Jones as opposed to Tarek Skubal who, who stands 6, 3£240 right now. So you know your thoughts, your impressions of the differences between the modern Cy Young winner and Randy Johnson.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Randy Jones was the epitome of the crafty left hander, as you said. Joey’s throwing like 88, 82 miles an hour. Sinker, slider. He even pretty. Would any team even look at him today? I mean, I’m looking at, as you mentioned, Tarek Skubal, the ALCI Young winner. I’m looking at Paul Skeens, the NLC Young winner this year. He went 10 and 10, 9, 7 ERA. He made 32 starts and threw 187 innings. Joe. 216 strikeouts. And you know, he throws 100 miles an hour. These two, these guys are still doing both. Randy Jones and Paul Skeens are doing the same thing, but it’s. They’re doing it, you know, with different tools. I mean, skis is 6, 6, 2 60. And as you said, Randy Jones was 66 foot, 178 pounds. It just goes to show you how this game has changed, you know, how teams approach pitching has changed, especially starting pitching. It just kind of blows your mind to me. I know you were born in 1976, Joe, but to me, 1976 doesn’t seem that far, long ago. I was covering high school sports for the News Herald in 1970. Or was I? Yeah, in 1976. I remember reading about Randy Jones. So I don’t know, man, it. Things, things happen. It’s just, it’s. It’s amazing that these two guys are playing the same game.

Joe Noga: Yeah. And like you said, would he have even. That. That’s the big question to me is would a guy like Randy Jones have been even gotten a look, even advanced past, you know, double A at any point? You’re talking about a guy who won the Scion. He was considered the best pitcher in the National League that year. And would he have even gotten a sniff. Would he even gotten look from a big league club with those kind of metrics, with those kind of numbers? Not even guys that throw 80 miles an hour don’t even come close to the, to the minor leagues, let alone. But he, he must have had the ability to pitch to contact and, you know, to minimize his pitch count. And really it’s the difference between, you know, what we know now versus what we didn’t know back then about what makes pitchers more effective in terms of. Sure, just throw them out there. You’re at a hundred pitches through seven innings. Sure. Go back out there and throw a complete game. It was common back then. And, and you just don’t see that now.

Paul Hoynes: He gave up talking about pitching the contact, Joe. He gave up 274 hits in 315 in the third innings. So he was getting a lot of quick out.

Joe Noga: Yeah. But I mean he was probably also getting a lot of double plays. He was probably all, he’s not relying on the strikeout to get him out of an inning at all. It just wasn’t the case. So really it’s, it’s, it’s a fundamental difference in the way the game is played. And it’s also sort of an indictment of the hitting back then as opposed to the hitting now. I mean, if he were out there now, he’d be getting hit all over the park, like out of the park and getting torched. You know, look at those 274 hits. But he only gave up 15 home runs. You think about that. The percentage is just crazy. It’s home runs per nine innings, 0.4 home runs per nine innings, which is just crazy. You look at the rate stat there, breakouts per nine that year, 2.7 strikeouts per nine innings. Starting pitching these days, if you’re not close to 10 in that 8 to 9 to 10 range for strikeouts per nine innings, you’re not all that effective.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, no doubt about it, Joe. It’s a different game, but the mod was still 60ft, 6 inches from home plate. I guess it just shows you the different ways to get the same job done. But it also shows you it’s hard to compare eras in this game.

Joe Noga: Yeah, and that’s, that’s another thing. That’s why moving beyond some of the players from that era in terms of hall of Fame consideration is also a sort of a big deal. All right, Hoinsey, let’s get into some hey Hoinsies. It’s, it’s Thursday. It’s our weekly tradition. We’re ready to take some questions from our listeners. If you want to submit a question for hey hoinsey, go to cleveland.com subtext subscribe there. You can you join and you get text messages from Hoinsey and from me throughout the week and you can ask questions and we ask your opinions on a lot of different topics. So it’s, it’s a fun way to sign up there. 3, 3.99amonth and you can do it there online. First question from John Kyle in Westfield Center, Ohio. Hey Hoinsey. The rumors of Josh Nail or Josh Naylor signing a five year deal with with Seattle. I reminded John of how unfair MLB is to small market teams. I’m ready to do without baseball until there’s a maximum and a minimum salary limit, as long as whatever it takes to bring fairness to baseball like the other sports leagues. So what are your plans for next summer when he’s alluding to a lockout there, John Kyle thinking just the idea of the haves and the have nots in Major League Baseball, the big market teams versus the small market teams.

Paul Hoynes: Joe, the haves and the have nots have been going on since, since baseball started. I don’t think that’s ever going to change. I am of the opinion that I hope cooler heads prevail, that the two sides recognize that the damage a long lockout could do to baseball. We only have to look back to 94 and 95 to see the damage that was done and the length and the length of time it took baseball to recover. This is not a time for long stoppage, a labor stoppage. And believe me, I’ve, I’ve gone through these things. It is a pain in the rear end and it, it’s death to baseball fans. You’ve got a, the whole MLB is just coming off this great World Series, a great postseason, attendance is up, fan interest is up, and now you’re going to throw a wet blanket over it by just with a lockout over. I guess what John wants is a salary cap and that’s just not going to work, in my opinion. I can’t see it happening.

Joe Noga: Yeah, that’s the, you’re talking about the, the Major League Baseball Players association, one of the, you know, one of the bigger bargaining groups. Labor, organized organized labor groups in, you know, more powerful at least in the country next to the auto industry. And you know, the, the teamsters, you think about what they, what they negotiate over, the, the amounts of money that they negotiate over. So you’re talking about trying to implement salary cap that the players union is going to be dead set against. I don’t think there’s any, any way to get that, that passed. But Anfred seems like he’s, he’s really focused on this. And you’re right, they, they come off this, this fantastic World Series, all this engagement and they’ve got a good thing going here. They’re going to kill the golden goose. They’re, they’re going to, you know, go into a lockout situation and people are going to walk away from the game and all these improvements that they’ve made to, to sort of bring fans know, with the pitch timer and cutting the games down to Two and a half hours. There have been so many strides over the last several years and they’re going to kill this momentum with, with some sort of lockout. Is there any way to avoid it?

Paul Hoynes: Joe, they just signed a huge media deal for $165 million.

Joe Noga: Billion.

Paul Hoynes: Billion with a B. There’s money in the game. They’ve got to be able to, to distribute the wealth to make everybody happy, I would think. I mean, yeah, it would be nice to have a, a salary floor where teams have to have a certain, certain salary to stay competitive, a payroll to stay competitive, but it’s hard to maximize, put a, put a lid on this to, to put a cap on it as well. You know, we’ve seen the players strike over this. We’ve seen it time and time again. Not so much recently, but you know, in the, in the 80s and 90s, you know, they seem like they were striking every year.

Joe Noga: Strike.

Paul Hoynes: You know, this is not something the union takes lightly. And I would be stunned if they even, you know, even if they kind of listen to, listen to the owner’s presentation, if that’s what the owners really want to do.

Joe Noga: Jean. Chris Wells in Powell, Ohio. Hey, Hoynsing, if the Guardians had been able to trade Emmanuel Class A before he was suspended, what do you think they could have received in return? And we’ve talked about this before, at the trade deadline, back end relief pitching was going at a premium.

Paul Hoynes: My gosh, Joe, I was just looking at some of the names. When the A’s traded Mason, they got, they received a lefty, JP Sears, who they. Yeah, JP Sears, one of the best prospects in baseball. Leo Dallas DeVries and two other players. And when, you know, the Phillies got, the Phillies got Duran, they, they gave up their fourth and fifth top prospects. When, when the Mets traded for Housley from St. Louis, they got their number, number five, their fifth top prospect. The Yankees traded seven guys, Joe, seven prospects for David Bednar and Camilo Duvall. So it just shows you, you know, you know, Class A was better than any of those guys. I don’t know what they would have got, but they, they would have got what they wanted, I think for Class A if, if, if, you know, they were, they had been able to trade him and obviously the deadline was July 1st and he got suspended on July 28th. So they really never had, they really never had a chance. They had to know beforehand that they, they could not trade him. I don’t think MLB would have let them trade him.

Joe Noga: No, that would have never happened. While the, the investigation was going on. So it had been for, for quite a while. I think it definitely a top 30 prospect from any, any team that would have come calling for him. At least one top 30 prospect, possibly two. Or that instead of a second top 30 prospect it might have been a young controllable, major league ready player. At that time you’re talking at least two players who would have fit right in at the top of whatever the guardians list would have been, you know, at that time. I think definitely multiple players with, with high prospect ceilings would have come back in a class A trade which they will not get. That takes me to another question here from Tyler Schloss, Athens, Ohio. He wants to know, hey Hoinsey, is there any compensation for losing players that you signed to suspension? It seems only fair to be able to recoup some of that talent via the Rule 5 draft or some other way if Class A and Ortiz are suspended for life. On the flip side, if they are able to be reinstated, do they remain with the club? I think the chances of these guys being reinstated is, is growing slimmer and slimmer by the day. But no, at this point, Tyler, I don’t think that there’s any compensation for losing a player if he screws up and gets suspended for life.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, the Black Sox didn’t get any compensation after they threw the World Series. So I don’t think Class A and Ortiz, the Guardians aren’t going to get compensation for those guys. I mean, yeah, it hurt them. Definitely took a lot of steam out of them from for the season. But give credit to the Guardians, they overcame that. They, they patched a hole at closer, they patched a hole in the rotation and they still won the AL Central. So kudos to them. But they’re not getting anything back for you know, having two guys fix pitches and rig pitches and allegedly pitch rig pitches. But the no compensation coming back. And if they ever get reinstated, they can’t walk in that locker room again. They’re going to have to either be traded, they’d have to be traded. I just, I just can’t see them. I couldn’t see it happen.

Joe Noga: What, what, what would you trade for them? Or if you’re a team, what would you give up for them? And even if they’re reinstated, I, I can see them only being treated, getting the Trevor Bauer treatment From you know, 29 other teams in terms of not being re signed. Just making the conscious decision not to resign them even though they, they would have the need for them for either player. Carl in Las Vegas writes, hey Hoinse, the Guardians aren’t going to do anything this, this off season. Are they resigning? Austin Hedges doesn’t count. So we are a couple weeks now into free agency. We’ve got the Rule 5 draft, you know, roster, rosters are set for that. The non tender deadline is coming up tomorrow. Actually there could be some players made available or who, who become free agents, you know, tomorrow that, that might interest the Guardians in that way. Do you, do you see them going out and making a big move, making a big signing?

Paul Hoynes: You know, I think they’ll make some moves, Joe. I think they’ll make moves along the lines that probably as we’ve been talking about this, maybe not a, it’s not going to be a huge free agent deal. It’s not going to be, you know, you know they’re not going to sign a top shelf free agent but I think they could make a trade, a couple trades as they did last year with you know, Andres Jimenez, you know, so they, they could, they could do those deal kind of deal that, that way. But yeah, they, they know they have to get better offensively so they, they’re going to make some, they’re going to have to make a move, a trade or two or a sign, you know, a mid range free agent signing. They, they know the offense has to be improved. So I think as this season unfolds, as this offseason unfolds, we’ll see them be more active.

Joe Noga: Well, here’s a question from Tim Johnson from Rockville, Indiana. He says hey Hoinsey, you guys talked about trading for Adoles Garcia from the Texas Rangers on Tuesday’s show. His lifetime on base percentage is.295. He hasn’t had an on base percentage over.300 since 2023. He’s not worth $12 million. Graphs projects his on base percentage in 2026 to be 295. By comparison, Fin graphs compares John Kenzie Noel’s on base percentage at 283. So yeah, you’ve already got Noel and you’re not paying him anything. Why would you pay Dolos Garcia $12 million to be, you know, marginally better than that? However, Angera does project Delauder Case Delauder to play in 118 games with 14 home runs and a slash line of.251 batting.327 base and 406 slugging. So what, what Tim here is saying is why, why chase after an Adoles Garcia who I would imagine is being shopped around right now by, by the Rangers before The non tender deadline which he could become a free agent after that. You know what, what would be the better choice here? Chase the Lauder or you know, going out and paying for a guy like Adoles Garcia?

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I mean we saw what they did with, with Carlos Santana last year. They paid him 12 million. Didn’t work so well. Maybe, you know, I, I, I think they want to give the Lotter a shot. Joe. What the Lotter has to do is stay healthy. You know, will he play 118 games? That’s the question with the Lauder. If he stays healthy, I think, you know, he’ll, he’ll play, he’ll, he’ll see a lot of playing time in Cleveland. I don’t know if he’ll open season in with, with the Guardians, but he, if he stays healthy, they’ll, they’ll certainly give him a chance. I mean they didn’t bring him up in the postseason for him to make his big league debut for nothing. I mean, you know, that, that was a test. Yeah, that would be nice. And, and I guess, you know, Garcia remember, I just remember Garcia in 2000, what, 23 when the, the, the Rangers won the World Series. And I mean he had a great year there. I mean he’s, but obviously he’s struggled since, you know, perhaps that, that’s off the board, but you would certainly have to kick the tires on them. If you’re the Guardians, you got to wherever there’s power, you, you better be looking at it.

Joe Noga: Yeah, he does fit the bill of what they need. An athletic right handed hitting power hitter. We could hit 30 home runs and, you know, drive in 80 to 100 runs a year. He’s, he’s done it before. He could, he could do it. But I do think the Guardians would be over the moon thrilled with, you know, Fangraph’s projection of 118 games for Chase Dalau. If he could appear in 118 games, they would if he’s productive. So you know, we, we’ve seen flashes of what kind of hitter Dilaudor could be and they might take that. Final question here from Ed Bradenberry. Brandyberry. Ed Brandyberry from Coropolis, Pennsylvania. He says, hey Oinsy, do you think an edge is given to late call ups like Chase delatera and George Valera to win starting spots for the Guardians in, in spring training? I’m not a fan of Platoons, but if Delater can handle four days a week in center field, I’d be happy to see Valera and maybe even John KE Noel Platoon and Right field. You know, there’s a. There’s a lot of names. There’s a lot of possibilities out there in the mix in the, in the, the outfield. Just not a lot of. Maybe. Experience.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, not a lot of experience or production outside of left field. And Stephen Kwon. And Kwon gives you the production of a leadoff guy, so you’re, you’re not getting a lot of power out of that outfield at any, any of the three positions. You know, we saw Dilater play center field and in the playoffs or in the wild card series. You know, I, I guess, you know, they, they believe he can play out there, but again, you know, health with, with Valera and, and DeLauer are the keys. You know, Valera. I don’t know, Joey. I. I liked his bat. I liked his swing. I got to see a lot more of him in right field, though.

Joe Noga: He.

Paul Hoynes: He made some plays that kind of. I. I’m still scratching my head over and I’m. I’m not sure if he’s. So we’ve got to see what kind of defender he is first. We know what Noel can do. I think he’s a better defender than people think, but he’s, you know, he’s got a hit, Joe, and that’s something he didn’t do last year. Big off season for Quan. If they’re going to extend him, I would think they pro. They’re going to have to extend him now, Joe, don’t you think? In either the off season or spring training. Yeah. Yeah. So big.

Joe Noga: Big.

Paul Hoynes: You know, this is a big off season for, for Quan D.