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Skip Bayless Says Kevin Cash Pulled Blake Snell For Media Attention

“Aside from Cash’s knack for giving good interviews, Bayless says the media is also drawn to Cash because the Rays don’t have many superstars on their roster.”
Jacob Conley

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2 years ago

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Sports pundits throughout the day on Wednesday took turns roasting Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash for pulling ace pitcher Blake Snell after just 73 pitches in Game 6 of the World Series which the Rays ultimately lost 3-1. Skip Bayless also criticized Cash for the move on FS1’s Undisputed, but he also took the unusual stance of, at least partially, blaming the media for playing a part in Cash’s decision.

Bayless frames his argument by comparing Snell’s performance before he was removed to Cardinals great Bob Gibson.

“It was very clear that Blake Snell was the best player on the field last night, from both teams,” Bayless said. “Bob Gibson was my favorite baseball player growing up. He pitched three games in three World Series. Eight of them were complete games. They rode their horse to the finish. The Dodgers had no chance against Blake Snell. They were making weak or no contact against him.”

Bayless then offers an explanation as to why Cash pulled Snell from the game. He loves media attention.

“Kevin Cash was not money last night,” Bayless said. “I immediately tweeted (after Cash took Snell out of the game) ‘bad idea’. Kevin Cash has become a media lightning rod throughout these playoffs. He does a great interview, but I think he got a little full of himself, thinking I’m the face of my team. They (the media) want to talk to me more than they do anybody else.”

Aside from Cash’s knack for giving good interviews, Bayless says the media is also drawn to Cash because the Rays don’t have many superstars on their roster.

“They have Blake Snell and they have Randy Arozarena, but he came out of nowhere. So by default the star of the team became Kevin Cash and he starts to think he is a genius because he understands analytics.

Bayless particularly took exception to the way Cash pulled Snell from the game saying the move deflated the Tampa Bay dugout.”

“Again Kevin Cash is full of himself,” he said. “Blake Snell gives up a one out single and Kevin Cash comes running out of the dugout with the cameras all on him gesturing for the bullpen to give him the right-hander. Then the camera cuts to Blake Snell who utters an expletive he knew (he was being taken out of the game). You can’t do that to the man. He could have gone all nine innings and the Dodgers maybe would have gotten one run off of him. Instead before I could reach for my keyboard, it was 2-1 Dodgers and you could just see the life go out of the Rays dugout.”

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Sports TV News

NCAA Tournament Delivers Highest-Rated Round of 64 Ever

“ For the first round on Thursday and Friday of last week, games accomplished a total audience delivery of 9.2 million viewers.”
Jordan Bondurant

Published

7 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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The first two rounds of the 2023 NCAA tournament are in the books, and the TV ratings indicate historic viewership.

For the first round on Thursday and Friday of last week, games accomplished a total audience delivery of 9.2 million viewers. This was for contests on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV in addition to streaming on March Madness Live.

Action on Thursday averaged 8.4 million, up 2% compared to 2022.

On Friday, game broadcasts averaged 9.3 million, making it the most-watched first round ever.

The Sweet 16 tips off on Thursday this week.

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Sports TV News

John Skipper: All Rights Deals Look Terrible at Beginning, Great by End

“ I always love the people who lost always released statements that said, ‘We refused to do a financially irresponsible deal.’”
Jordan Bondurant

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7 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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The NBA will be heading to the negotiating table soon for a new media rights agreement, and it appears almost certain the league will incorporate a streaming element into the deal.

Amazon is believed to be looking to add the NBA to its lineup of live sports offerings. The tech giant is entering the second year of a $1 billion per season deal to be the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football.

The NBA is looking to earn anywhere from $50-75 billion in the next rights deal, almost triple the value of the current deal expiring in 2025.

Talking to David Samson on the podcast Sports Business, Meadowlark Media CEO and former ESPN president John Skipper was asked if he believed the existing packages with ESPN/ABC and Warner Bros. Discovery would triple in value without an Apple or Amazon. Skipper explained that the answer is a bit nuanced.

“No, but they don’t have to for the NBA to triple their national broadcasting revenue,” he said. “I think it’s not a crazy sum to think that they may approach it or they may actually reach it. They’re not going to have two packages when this is over. They’re gonna have at least three. So you don’t have to triple all the packages to triple the money.”

Skipper added that in terms of Warner Bros. Discovery seeming to take the stance of not wanting to overpay for NBA rights, it’s sort of a losing mindset for the competitors out there in the media rights space.

“I don’t think you can get out a spreadsheet and kind of go, ‘OK I don’t need the NBA anymore,'” he said. “Because somebody else is going to pay an exorbitant number. I’m like OK great I hope you continue that practice, because then we’ll have all the rights someday.”

“Rights go up. They look terrible in the beginning, by the end they look great,” Skipper added. “That’s why broadcasters should do long-term deals. I think the NBA will get somewhere between 200-350% more money in this round of deals than they did last time.”

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Diamond Sports Group Says MLB Streaming Rights Caused Bankruptcy

“The (MLB) Commissioner’s office has made it clear that they want to take back the rights and go it alone, which will effectively drive us out of the market if they are successful.”

Jordan Bondurant

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7 hours ago

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March 20, 2023

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Diamond Sports Group, the owner of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, told a Texas bankruptcy judge that Major League Baseball’s unwillingness to cut a deal to allow for increased streaming rights was a contributing factor in the company’s bankruptcy.

According to Reuters, Diamond Sports Group’s attorney Andrew Goldman told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that the additional streaming rights to bolster Bally Sports+ is pivotal in the company’s business model moving forward. But MLB has made it difficult to gain traction.

“The (MLB) Commissioner’s office has made it clear that they want to take back the rights and go it alone, which will effectively drive us out of the market if they are successful,” Goldman said.

In the eyes of the league, it isn’t on MLB to sort out the issues in RSNs.

“We are dealing with a broken model, and it is not the responsibility of MLB to fix that model,” league attorney James Bromley said.

Bally Sports RSNs will carry on as usual while the bankruptcy process plays out.

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