Part 2/9:
The end of this partnership is not entirely surprising. Over recent years, there has been a noticeable decline in ESPN's coverage of baseball. The once-popular "Baseball Tonight" was shut down in 2017, leaving an empty studio space on ESPN’s Bristol campus. The network has drastically reduced its focus on the sport, shifting its attention to other sports like basketball. Fans have pointed out that debates centered around MLB hardly ever see the light of day on ESPN's prominent talk shows.