Sportsnet cuts Ben Wagner from Blue Jays radio broadcast after six years

The Toronto Blue Jays’ radio broadcasts will sound different next year when the team takes the field.

Today, Sportsnet announced it has parted ways with announcer Ben Wagner, who had been part of the Blue Jays broadcast team since 2018 and most recently served as the team’s lead radio play-by-play announcer.

An update on Sportsnet's baseball radio broadcast: pic.twitter.com/49ezaZ21kM

— Sportsnet PR (@SportsnetPR) November 29, 2023

“After six seasons as the voice of our baseball radio broadcasts, Sportsnet has decided not to renew Ben Wagner’s contract for next season,” Sportsnet PR wrote in a statement on X today. “Thank you, Ben, for sharing your voice and expertise with listeners across Canada. We wish you the very best.”

In a follow-up post, Sportsnet announced it would be announcing its radio broadcast team prior to the start of the 2024 season, though the network didn’t offer any further clarity on who Wagner’s replacement might be.

Wagner has yet to publicly comment on the news of his departure.

The Toronto Sun‘s Rob Longley reported that there were “no negotiations” with Wagner on a new deal with Sportsnet prior to him being let go.

Rogers pulling the plug on radio play-by-play voice Ben Wagner. According to sources there were no negotiations with the #Bluejays radio voice, just see ya later and thanks for the memories. We’ll have more details soon.

— Rob Longley (@longleysunsport) November 29, 2023

Wagner’s tenure was a rather tumultuous one, as he worked in a variety of different home ballparks and remote broadcast setups over the last four seasons.

This past year, Wagner called Toronto’s road regular-season games remotely, but was in-person for the Jays’ two-game playoff set in Minnesota. Wagner typically worked Toronto games solo, doing so without being joined by a colour commentator as is common across the league.

The Jays’ 2024 campaign gets going in 120 days when they visit the Tampa Bay Rays to kick off their next regular season. Finishing in third place in the American League East with 89 wins this past year, Toronto is still in search of its first postseason series win in seven years.

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