WFAN's Evan Roberts not sitting in with Maggie Gray and Bart Scott next week, source says

WFAN’s afternoon drive time tryouts have taken a detour, with Evan Roberts no longer scheduled to work alongside Maggie Gray and Bart Scott next week from 1 to 3 p.m., according to a person familiar with the station’s plans.

This week John Jastremski is sitting in with Gray and Scott in what widely is viewed as a test of a potential show to replace Mike Francesa in January. The combination got off to an uncertain start on Monday, with the trio struggling at times to get words in over one another, especially Jastremski. He was more assertive on Tuesday.

The plan was to have longtime midday co-host Roberts join Gray and Scott next week, but that idea has been postponed for now. The reason was not clear, but in the past Roberts has expressed wariness over a three-person show. 

The wild card in WFAN’s plans is Scott, because his contract expires at the end of this year, and WFAN is believed to want to feature him prominently on the station.

The most seamless option would be simply to move Roberts and his longtime co-host Joe Benigno into drive time. But Benigno’s contract expires after 2020 and he openly has discussed retirement in recent years.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.