What MLB rights does Fox have this season?

From earlier reports, they'll still have the 3:55 PM (Eastern) time slot exclusively. However, it looks like the pre-game show (Jeannie Zelasko, Kevin Kennedy) has been killed off.

Someone with more up-to-date info will reply soon enough.

From Wiki:

Fox: Saturday afternoon Game of the Week on a regional basis; eight appearances per team. In addition, the network will broadcast the All Star Game, the ALCS and World Series. The network is canceling their pre-game show, and will now start games on Saturdays at 4 PM US ET/1 PM US PT, except for three dates (April 18, and May 2 and 9) due to NASCAR coverage, when those games start at 3:30 PM ET/12:30 PM PT.

ESPN/ESPN2: Sunday Night Baseball on a weekly basis; five appearances per team. In addition, there are games on Monday and Wednesday nights, with the Monday games moving to Friday nights when the 2009 NFL season begins, Opening Day games on April 6, and the Home Run Derby on July 13. ESPN Radio will also carry the Sunday Night games, as well as selected games through the season and the entire post-season.

TBS: Sunday afternoon games starting on April 12; 13 appearances per team. In addition, the network will carry the announcement of the All-Star Teams in the National and American Leagues on June 29 as well as the Divisional Series and the NLCS as per the alternating contract with Fox.

MLB Network: The network plans to carry a weekly Thursday Night Game of the Week starting April 9. No word on the limit of appearances any team can make as of yet.

From XM MLB Chat:

Fox cuts MLB pre-game in 2009

"Fox sources have confirmed that the network will drop its Los Angeles-based Major League Baseball pregame show for next season as part of a network-wide cost-cutting move, and Fox Sports chief Ed Goren informed all the talent about the decision just before Thanksgiving.

Some of it has to do with the fact that the network lost up to $50 million on its MLB coverage in '07, no doubt helped along by the less-than-attractive World Series, and that the pregame show hosted by Jeanne Zelasko and including Kevin Kennedy, Eric Karros and Mark Grace, never made money with national ad sales (they were sold by the local affiliates, rather than the national ads that are seen on the Fox NFL pregame show).

Zelasko and Kennedy will be without Fox MLB gigs for next season. Karros and Grace continue as a regional game analyst.

Fox will likely have its Saturday MLB games on on the air at 1 p.m., with a 1:07 p.m. first pitch. With the pregame shows in the past, Fox would come on the air at 12:30 p.m. with first pitch at 12:55 p.m. (Pacific)."

via Neil Best Watchdog

I think it means the most any team can be on is 8 times. It's a maximum limit.

Correct.

Excellent start!

Now, drop coverage of the games themselves, and I'll be happy.

Love baseball, hate their coverage of it (not to mention their overly large exclusivity window on Saturday afternoons).

My idea would have EVERY Red Sox-Yankees game not seen elsewhere on national TV (ESPN/TBS/Fox) would be on MLB network

So the scheduling appears to be:

Monday - ESPN/ESPN2
Tuesday - none
Wednesday - ESPN/ESPN2
Thursday - MLB
Friday - none until September - ESPN/ESPN2, once MNF starts
Saturday - Fox
Sunday (afternoon) - TBS
Sunday (night) - ESPN/ESPN2

Fox (Saturday) and ESPN (Sunday) have exclusive rights for those games.

Blackout on the national network if your local RSN is showing the game

I believe FOX has the window on Saturday from 1-7pm ET with their games starting just after 4pm ET. no games on MLB Extra Innings during that window. home-market coverage only for 1pm games.

And ESPN has the Sunday window for all games starting after 5pm ET (not sure if they make exceptions for the Texas Rangers who play night games on Sundays during the summer) with no local coverage allowed.

No more than 13 appearances on TBS? Really? The season is only 6 months long, so that roughly 24 Sundays. MLB told them they can only have the same team on every OTHER week, not every week?

Way to push variety MLB!

As I recall, the problem with the Fox regional games is getting a game you want that is out of "region". Since Extra Innings package games are preempted you are out of luck. Unlike the NFL, I don't care to watch just "any old game" if my team is not available.