Ask and you shall receive.
Spring Training is the time of year where broadcasters have a little more creative leeway on who appears live. So, it made sense to have Brody Chernoff, the son of Cleveland Indians GM Mike Chernoff, on to talk baseball. It went better than planned.
After discussing Cleveland’s recent signing of Edwin Encarnacion, play-by-play man Tom Hamilton joked about whether Chernoff had any signings or trades in the works. Surprisingly, the young kid revealed his dad was attempting to sign star shortstop Francisco Lindor to a seven-year extension.
Hamilton: “Let me ask you, just between us and all the people listening — Dad had any phone calls lately? Who’s he trying to get? ‘Cause he won’t tell us. Can you?”
Brody: “He’s trying to, um, get Lindor to play for seven more years.”
Hamilton: [laughter] “Ok, we better not talk to you anymore, Brody. There you have it folks. We have finally had a scoop on the Indians radio network.”
You can find the whole exchange at around 3:35 in this clip:
Not a bad scoop considering the situation.
Lindor is a rising star in this league. Cleveland would undoubtedly like to lock him up long-term, and it isn’t a surprise they’re trying. However, Brody revealing extension details when lobbed a softball by Hamilton is absolutely hilarious. There’s no way Hamilton expected to receive an actual answer regarding Cleveland’s most promising youngster.
The takeaway here is if you’re a broadcaster wanting contract details or transaction news before it breaks, invite the general manager’s kid on and hope he spills the beans.
Hopefully, Brody isn’t punished for breaking the news on extension talks. Either way, if he wants a career as a baseball insider, today was a great start for that.
