‘Guardians Live’ host on Bally Sports future: ‘We know as much as you do’

BY JOE SCALZO

When it comes to Cleveland’s baseball team, “Guardians Live” host Jensen Lewis is happy to predict the future.

As for the company that broadcasts its games? Not so much.

Lewis, who co-hosts “Guardians Live” with Al Pawlowski on Bally Sports Great Lakes, admitted he’s not sure what will happen with Bally Sports following last month’s bankruptcy ling by its parent company, Diamond Sports Group.

“For those who are going to be watching Guardians baseball this year, I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way: We know as much as you do,” he said at a Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club meeting in Canton on Monday, March 27. “All I can tell you is ursday night at 9:30, turn that dial to Bally Sports Great Lakes (for the season opener). Al and I will be with you. Matt (Underwood), Rick (Manning) and Andre (Knott) will be on the call.

“Until you hear any di erently, just keep doing it. I have no other information for you outside of that.”

Bally Sports owns the broadcasting rights to 14 major league teams, including the Guardians. Diamond is reportedly trying to get out of the agreements with four of them — the Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres — on the grounds that they cost the company more in rights fees than they generate in cable contracts and ad revenues. MLB has vowed to broadcast those teams’ games this summer if Diamond follows through with those plans.

Bally Sports Great Lakes announced its broadcasting plans for Guardians game on March 23 and the news release made no mention of the bankruptcy proceedings, or any changes in how fans can watch the games. Lewis said the network hasn’t said anything di erent to the on-air talent either.

“We’re in the same boat as you guys,” he said. “We’ll see where it all ends up.”

Lewis, who turns 39 in May, spent four seasons (2007-10) as a relief pitcher for the Indians and is entering his 11th year as a Cleveland baseball broadcaster. He weighed in on Cleveland’s name change, baseball’s rule changes, the Guardians’ prospects for 2023 and more.

Here are four other takeaways from his speech:

The city name is more important than the team name.

Lewis grew up in Medina cheering for the Indians and was drafted twice by the Tribe, rst in 2002 out of Cincinnati Anderson High School and again in 2005 out of Vanderbilt. So when he was asked about the Indians changing to Guardians in 2022 — while teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Braves have not — he spoke as someone who understands the fans’ connection to the name.

“I was a Cleveland Indian — al- ways will be — and I was so very proud to have worn that uniform,” he said. “ at’s who I’ll always be. I’ll never be a former Cleveland Guardians pitcher. I’m a former Cleveland Indians pitcher. … I know that I enjoyed being a Cleveland Indian. at’s all I ever wanted to be.”

But …

“Now that I cover the team as the Cleveland Guardians, it’s still the Cleveland baseball organization that means the most to me,” he said. “If you come out to the parade when we win a world championship as the Cleveland Guardians, to me it (won’t) be any di erent than if the Cleveland Spiders were the team. at’s the most important point. If we win a championship, that’s all that’s going to matter.” e changes are expected to cut about 25 minutes of dead time from each game, while increasing stolen base attempts and scoring.

MLB’s rule changes are going to make the game better.

Major League Baseball made several rule changes in the o season to speed up the game and increase the action, including instituting a pitch clock, banning the in eld shift and making the bases bigger.

“I think you’ll nd that when you have guys that are locked in a little more, when you have more action, it’s going to produce a better product,” said Lewis, who said the pitch clock wouldn’t have a ected him as a pitcher since he liked to work quickly. “In talking to guys already — and not just our group, but guys around the league — this is pretty big for these guys. I think they feel their games have gone to another level, and we may see even more positive results from it.

“So for those who haven’t gotten around to it (watching spring training), it’ll take some more time. But I promise you, you’ll be ne with 2½ hour games.” e contract was for seven years and $141 million. Lewis believes Ramirez could have gotten between $250 million and $300 million on the open market.

Extending Jose Ramirez was a franchise-changer.

Many people in the Guardians organization believe last year’s surprising run to the AL Central Division crown was due in large part to Jose Ramirez’s decision last April to sign a below-market contract to stay in Cleveland.

“ at was the turning point for me all of last year, and it may end up being the turning point for this franchise moving forward,” Lewis said. “He said, ‘I’m happy, I love it here and I want to build here and I want to win a title here.’ ere’s no better ringing endorsement than for a superstar player, a top-10 player, to say, ‘Cleveland is home and you all need to come play with me here because it’s a great place to play.’”

Lewis expects the Guardians to lock up several more young players, especially now that David Blitzer has purchased a minority stake in the team. Team owner Paul Dolan has said Blitzer’s addition won’t cure Cleveland’s payroll gap with MLB’s biggest spenders, but it could make it easier to lock up young players.

“I think for the body of work of what our front o ce has done, it wouldn’t shock me if you see throughout this season continued conversations with our young people to try to get them under contract,” Lewis said. “You’ve got to remember, we don’t have a ton of payroll committed beyond next year outside of Jose and some arbitration-type deals. So we’ll have money to spend, and I think they’ll be pretty aggressive with it.”

Ramirez, rst baseman Josh Bell, center elder Myles Straw and closer Emmanuel Clase are the only four players under contract for next season, and Bell’s contract is a player option. e biggest question mark is ace