Cubs News: Five possible candidates to replace Len Kasper

Here are five announcers who might be a fit for the Cubs broadcast booth.

As if this offseason hasn’t been bad enough so far for the Chicago Cubs, they now are in need of a new play-by-play announcer after Len Kasper stunned us all, joining the Chicago White Sox radio booth after 16 years at Wrigley Field.

The team and Marquee Network insist that they have yet to find a replacement, despite a report that Chris Myers was in line to succeed Kasper. There has been – and figures to continue to be – a lot of speculation as to who will get the gig. This is an important decision, as the team has a rich history when it comes to broadcasters.

Here, we look at five candidates who may be a good fit for the job:

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Brian Anderson: Anderson is currently the play-by-play man for the Milwaukee Brewers. He has become one of the most respected names in the business and also has received high marks for his national NBA and NCAA basketball work. Whether Anderson would be interested in the Cubs’ job might depend on whether he has aspirations to continue to do national work in the future.

Jon Sciambi: Here’s another national figure who would add some personality and passion for the game to the broadcasts. Like Anderson, Sciambi has become a popular national broadcaster, doing a lot of baseball but also some college basketball for ESPN. Sciambi has local experience calling games for the Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Don Orsillo: Orsillo is currently in the San Diego Padres broadcast booth; before that he was in the Boston Red Sox booth for a long time, and his departure upset a lot of Red Sox fans.  Orsillo also has a lot of experience calling postseason games for TBS. Would he be interested in getting another gig with one of the game’s most iconic franchises?

Josh Lewin: Lewin has a lot of experience calling MLB games, on both TV and the radio, for several different teams. He was briefly a play-by-play man for the Cubs on WGN back in 1997. He also has done a lot of national work with FOX, calling games for them for many years after they gained MLB rights back in 1996. Currently, he does radio work for the Boston Red Sox and does football and basketball games for UCLA.

Chip Caray: OK, I know a lot of fans aren’t going to like this one because he received a ton of criticism when he was the play-by-play man for the Cubs from 1998 to 2004. However, I never thought he was that bad, and as he’s been working Atlanta Braves games since leaving the Cubs, it seems to me, from the opportunities I’ve had to hear him call Braves games, that he’s improved his craft. Would he be interested in a return to Chicago?

Bonus candidate: Jason Benetti. OK, I know this probably won’t happen. But White Sox followers seem proud of the fact that they stole the Cubs’ TV guy away; could the Cubs return the favor and steal their guy away? Benetti is the youngest candidate listed here and has been calling White Sox games for a few years, taking over for Ken Harrelson. He has also done some college work for ESPN.