snark infested waters

I think this is about right. Also, the talent identification process (and coaching informed by analytics and biomechanics) has gotten much more sophisticated to the point where teams probably don't feel a need to tell a reliever to ratchet it down a few notches when there's a handful of essentially replacement-level guys throwing 98 mph gas in AAA or available on waivers. As the game is currently constructed, players - especially fringe relievers - have strong incentives to give maximal effort on every pitch. I'm not sure how to work around that problem without making the game less compelling to watch.

I'm positively aghast at prices for cable and Internet these days too, but I thought he'd be made of sterner stuff.

I didn't hear anything, but I was listening at work so my attention lapsed at times, so I may have missed something. Also, from what I remember, he covered the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 9th innings, although he stuck around at times to banter. I wonder if that reduced workload will be typical going forward.