Yankees Moving to WFAN, Bumping the Mets

The Yankees are close to completing an agreement that will take them from WCBS-AM to WFAN next season, knocking the Mets off WFAN, their longtime radio home, for a destination to be determined.

Lonn Trost, the Yankees’ chief operating officer, declined to give any details of the change, but said, “We’re getting close.”

The Yankees would provide a stronger, higher-rated, more expensive team for WFAN, which, like WCBS, is part of CBS Radio. The Yankees deal, if completed, would be for about 10 years and $15 million to $20 million annually, according to a person briefed on the negotiations. Newsday was first to report the move.

The Yankees moved to WCBS from WABC after the 2001 season.

Whether John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman continue as the Yankees’ announcers on WFAN will ultimately be up to the team. The Yankees will consult with the station but have final approval on their broadcast team.

The Mets have been on WFAN since the station’s inception in 1987. They could go to ESPN New York, at 98.7 FM, or WOR-AM, which both showed interest in the Yankees. The rights for the Mets’ games would be less expensive.

Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer, said it was “fairly accurate” that the team would be leaving WFAN.

“Right now, we’re still negotiating with numerous parties about what we’re going to do with our radio,” Wilpon said during a firehouse visit in Manhattan with Matt Harvey, David Wright and Zack Wheeler. Wilpon said the situation could be resolved in about six weeks.

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