I think it’s great that MLB has hooked up with ESPN for a long-term contract. No other network—cable or otherwise—has done a better job with baseball coverage (live games, highlight shows, etc...) than ESPN.

It leads you to wonder what ESPN has in store for MLB over the next several years…beyond the TV screen, that is. Will ESPN broadcast games to mobile phones? Will ESPN broadcast games to the PC via the ESPN 360 widget? Will ESPN brew some sort of interactive experience where fans can interact via IM during games (hence more oomph behind the open IM platform)…at the same time will it build some sort of baseball “social network” that allows fans to build personal sites and communicate ala Myspace?

All of these are possibilities as is the notion the network will help MLB usher the game into additional foreign markets. I look to ESPN to be innovative and not afraid to try and fail. It’s a great marriage.