Could broadcaster Tim McCarver join the St. Louis Cardinals broadcast team?

Following a 34-year career on the networks, Tim McCarver retired as a baseball analyst for the national games airing on FOX but that does not mean he’s ready to quit quite yet.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports media writer Dan Caesar reports this morning that the former Cardinals player may be joining the Fox Sports Midwest broadcast team for Cardinals games.

McCarver was a member of all 3 Cardinals teams that went to the World Series in the 1960s. With St. Louis, he won two World Series rings. After serving as a part-time player during the 1959-1961 seasons, McCarver would play with the Cardinals from 1963 until he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of the 1969 season. It was the same trade that changed free agency in baseball as we know it.

"Sources said there have been discussions about him being a part of the team’s broadcasts next season, probably in a limited role.Officials at Fox Sports Midwest, which has the Cardinals’ local TV rights, declined to comment. And Dan Farrell, the Cards senior vice president who oversees their broadcast operations, could not be reached."

Is there room in the Cardinals broadcast team for McCarver? With limited games, certainly. There’s no denying that McCarver was a fan favorite during his playing days.

Mike Shannon reduced the amount of games he did on KMOX radio this past season and that was before he had to undergo aortic-valve replacement surgery in August.

The main TV team consists of Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky, and Ricky Horton. Horton has done play by play and analysis. Radio is mainly Shannon and John Rooney. Mike Claiborne will fill in for Rooney when he isn’t doing games. When Shannon isn’t doing games, it’s been Horton and Hrabosky.

A lot has to happen, of course, but Shannon’s contract expired at the end of the season. He should return as expected but it would likely be on a limited schedule like last season.