Tim McCarver close to joining St. Louis Cardinals broadcast team

It’s all but official that Tim McCarver will be one of the newest additions to the St. Louis Cardinals broadcast team.

As a national baseball analyst for Fox Sports, McCarver’s analysis has grown polarizing in recent years. However, he was a player for two St. Louis teams that won the World Series and another that one the National League pennant.

Overall, McCarver played 12 years of his baseball career wearing the Birds on the Bat. In 2012, the broadcaster was honored by the Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence.

"The Cardinals are supportive of the addition, sources said, and the structure of McCarver’s deal is expected to include a workload of around 20-25 games in 2014.FOX Sports Midwest has not announced any of its broadcast plans for next season, but the network does plan to return all the members of its 2013 broadcast team. If Mike Shannon reduces the number of games he calls on radio, television analysts Rick Horton and Al Hrabosky may again be asked to fill in alongside John Rooney. That would create opportunities for McCarver to slide into the television broadcast booth."

I expect that Shannon will have as much of a workload for the 2014 season as he did in 2013 so finding the games for McCarver is there. Should the Cardinals decide to go to a 3-man booth for some games, there’s certainly room in the booth for McCarver.