NESN has reportedly targeted Kevin Youkilis and Will Middlebrooks as potential color commentators to replace the late Jerry Remy in their broadcast booth for Red Sox games, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
Per Cotillo, the Red Sox initially went after Lou Merloni of WEEI, but the former infielder turned them down citing his acceptable work/life balance at the network. Dennis Eckersley is slated to cover half of the team’s games, which would leave openings for roughly 81 contests (give or take a few pending the resolution of baseball’s lockout). The Red Sox season is slated to begin on March 31.