Los Angeles Angels v Seattle Mariners / Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners/GettyImages

While the legendary John Sterling is poised to make a temporary return to the radio booth for the New York Yankees’ forthcoming playoff run (they clinched, we can type that without fear now), it’s only a short-term deviation from his current retirement.

Sterling, now 86 years old, initially walked away from the game in April after scaling back his duties in recent seasons. In his stead, the Yankees have utilized a number of energetic younger broadcasters, namely Rickie Ricardo, Emmanuel Berbari and Justin Shackil, to accompany Suzyn Waldman on air.

But when it comes to a permanent replacement, the Yankees are expanding their scope a bit (no, not to Craig Carton, it seems).

According to Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, Ricardo is one of two finalists for the job, competing with iconic Seattle Mariners television voice Dave Sims. You may have heard Sims this past week, in fact, expressing righteous indignation at the on-field meandering of Julio Rodriguez.

Yankees targeting Dave Sims, alongside Rickie Ricardo as finalists for John Sterling replacement

The Sims rumors began back in June when a caller named “Dr. Joe” (of course!) speculated on a WFAN show. Now, it’s been confirmed that Sims — who once called WFAN home in the late 1980s and still spends his offseasons in New York — has interviewed for the position.

Mum was the word when he was approached this week — “We’ll see what happens. I love what I’m doing here in Seattle. New York is home. That’s all I can say.” — but reading between the lines seems to indicate that the reporting is accurate. After all, if it was all a big fabrication, what would there be to stay mum about?

Sims would be a home run import, but he likely won’t come cheap. Ultimately, like everything involving the Yankees and free agency, that could be the sticking point; a source told NJ Advance Media that Audacy would not be interested in matching Sterling’s rumored $750,000 salary.

There are no bad options here, though, so unlike the Juan Soto chase, it wouldn’t be a major downgrade to stay in house.