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Magrane Leaving Rays' Broadcast Booth

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Half of the television announcing duo that has been with the Tampa Bay Rays since the team's beginning is moving on.

Analyst Joe Magrane is leaving the Rays after 11 seasons to join the new MLB Network, which goes on the air Jan. 1. An official announcement is expected Wednesday, and Magrane declined to comment in the meantime.

Magrane has called games alongside Dewayne Staats since Tampa Bay's inaugural season, 1998, while also maintaining some higher-profile national assignments. He regularly served as an analyst on Fox's Saturday game of the week and filled the same role for NBC's baseball coverage during the past four Olympics.

Both of the men who filled in while Magrane was calling the action from Beijing this summer could be candidates to replace him full time: longtime Rays television reporter and in-game host Todd Kalas and former major league pitcher Brian Anderson.

The MLB Network already has announced the hiring of former players Harold Reynolds and Al Leiter to serve as studio analysts alongside Magrane.

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