Former Mets Reliever Laments Changes At SNY After Layoffs

The New York Mets had one of the best regional networks in baseball, but former Mets reliever Jerry Blevins lamented the recent changes at SNY in which the Mets hit the network with massive layoffs and a shift away from news to promotional material, according to a report from Andrew Battifarano of the New York Post. 

Blevins said he’s “heartbroken” over the news, as he noted that one of the best things about his post-playing days has been the level of talent at every level of the network, both in front of and behind the camera.

The layoffs included Sal Licata, a host of “Baseball Night in New York,” and Eamon McAnaney, a host of “SportsNite,” per a report from The Athletic. Licata is a long-time fixture in the New York sports media scene, and he posted on social media that it was a “sad day” when the layoffs went down.  

Chelsea Janes is another well-known media figure who survived the purge at SNY, which began broadcasting back in 2006. She’ll remain with the network as an on-air contributor, and she noted that the network has been a “special place” where those who work their love baseball as much as their audience. 

SNY will continue to produce pregame and postgame shows for the Mets and Jets, per the report, and a source said the SNY website will shift its focus away from editorial and more on “information and promotion.”

The gutting of the news aspect also hit hard for Andy Martino, a writer and on-camera presence who left last year to take a job with the Mets. He said he worked with “brilliant people,” including producers and editors who made the shows unique and “poured their lives” into the shows and the projects associated with them. 

Much of this is fallout from the lockout, as baseball is about to shut down on Dec. 1. That means no meaningful hot stove activity for months, according to reports and predictions, and no one knows when the season will start next year. That prevents networks like SNY from making financial projections for formulate a business plan, and they can’t do that until a resolution is in place. 

This could happen with other regional networks, although few of these have taken the SNY approach with high-quality shows that include both news and commentary. November is expected to have some amount of free agent activity with the GM meetings currently taking place, but after that baseball will enter what’s been called its “nuclear winter.”