John Smoltz Joins TBS, Aims To Outperform A New Group Of Peers

Coming off a year that saw him post a 6.35 ERA between Boston and St. Louis, it's easy to see why the 42 year old John Smoltz hasn't generated a whole ton of interest as a free agent over the offseason. No team has met his requested demands, and as such, Smoltz is moving himself to a whole new field: television.

Smoltz, who captured the Cy Young Award in 1996, will serve as a TBS analyst for the regular season, as well as the network’s coverage of the MLB Playoffs. Additionally, Smoltz will serve as an analyst for Braves games this season on Peachtree TV, alongside Johnson and 18-year Turner veteran Joe Simpson.

What's interesting is that Smoltz, like Rocco Baldelli, is taking on a new job without announcing his retirement. Also interesting is that, despite his ERA, last year Smoltz struck out more than four times as many hitters as he walked. Which means not only will there be occasions this year that pitchers are discussed on TV by a guy who's better than them - there also exists the potential that the guy on TV could replace one of said pitchers the next day.