Cards set to add McCarver to broadcast team

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- As first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, FOX Sports Midwest is nearing completion of a deal that would add Tim McCarver to the Cardinals' broadcast booth in a limited role next season.

McCarver, who played 12 seasons with the Cardinals, stepped down as a national baseball analyst with FOX after calling the 2013 World Series between the Cardinals and Red Sox. Many thought that would end McCarver's decades-long stint in the broadcast booth. Instead, the 72-year-old will soon join the FOX Sports Midwest team, sources confirmed to MLB.com.

The Cardinals are supportive of the addition, sources said, and the structure of McCarver's deal is expected to include a workload of around 20-25 games in 2014.

FOX Sports Midwest has not announced any of its broadcast plans for next season, but the network does plan to return all the members of its 2013 broadcast team. If Mike Shannon reduces the number of games he calls on radio, television analysts Rick Horton and Al Hrabosky may again be asked to fill in alongside John Rooney. That would create opportunities for McCarver to slide into the television broadcast booth.

Shannon, a former teammate of McCarver's, underwent heart surgery last summer.

In addition to his work as a national analyst, McCarver has previously called games locally for the Phillies, Yankees, Mets and Giants. He began his broadcast career almost immediately after retiring as a player in 1980. Most recently, McCarver was paired with Joe Buck for 18 seasons on FOX.

McCarver was a member of the Cardinals' 1964 World Series champion club. He hit .478 in that Fall Classic and delivered a key tiebreaking home run in the 10th inning of a Game 5 win over the Yankees. He was a two-time National League All-Star as a Cardinal and finished second in the 1967 MVP Award voting.

McCarver was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the 2012 Ford C. Frick Award recipient for excellence in Major League Baseball broadcasting.