The White Sox have narrowed their field of potential replacements for TV voice Jason Benetti to three, the Sun-Times has learned: Red Sox radio voice Will Flemming, ESPN 1000’s Connor McKnight and John Schriffen of ESPN TV.
Mike Monaco, who initially was a favorite for the job, removed himself from consideration this week because of scheduling conflicts with ESPN. He signed a three-year extension with the network late last year.
Monaco has filled in on Sox broadcasts, first in 2021 when Benetti had COVID. Monaco also was in the running for the Blackhawks’ TV job but removed himself because of his ESPN commitments. The job went to Chris Vosters.
Flemming is the most experienced of the three for the Sox job, having called the Red Sox since 2019. He also has contributed to ESPN and CBS. His brother Dave is a broadcaster for the baseball Giants and ESPN.
Schriffen joined ESPN in 2020 to call Korea Baseball Organization games. He doesn’t have a lot of experience calling MLB games. He has called mostly college sports on the network, in addition to NBA G-League and Summer League games.
McKnight has been a regular fill-in on White Sox radio broadcasts, but he has a few TV broadcasts under his belt. He mostly has been the Sox pregame and postgame host since joining ESPN 1000 in 2021. Before that, he co-hosted middays on The Score.
Benetti left the White Sox in November to join the Tigers’ TV booth. He had a year left on his contract, but the Sox allowed him to speak with the Tigers when they expressed interest. Benetti’s relationship with the Sox had soured after they clashed about his schedule with Fox Sports, and the issue turned personal.
The Homewood native began with the Sox in 2016, calling select games in place of longtime TV voice Ken “Hawk” Harrelson. Benetti went full-time in 2019 after Harrelson retired. His first regular-season game with the Tigers will be on Opening Day at Guaranteed Rate Field on March 28.
Steve Stone will return as the Sox’ primary TV analyst.
