Courtesy Boston Globe

(February 13, 2009) Lou Merloni arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., Wednesday, eager to tackle his new job as analyst and reporter for Comcast SportsNet. The former Red Sox infielder and Framingham native will have a prominent role in the "Sports Tonight" coverage of Red Sox spring training.

Merloni, who will be in Florida until Feb. 21, decided not to remain at NESN, believing Comcast will allow him more flexibility to remain a regular on WEEI's "The Big Show."

"When the season was over, NESN was still interested in me continuing there," said Merloni, who said he parted with NESN on good terms. "I didn't want a long-term deal type of thing. I wanted that freedom to be able to do as much as I could. I really enjoy doing the radio. Comcast SportsNet gave me the best opportunity to do both. On NESN, the problem with doing the pregame show, it's a 3 o'clock commitment, so if I were to do the pregame, I couldn't do radio. Now, if I do radio during the day, I can still do Comcast at night.

"I'm not shutting the door [on NESN] at all, by any means. I would work with them in the future, but I just thought right now, for me, this was the best way to expand my career dealing with maybe a few other sports, but at the same point, be the baseball guy, that was something I was very interested in."

Merloni said leaving the home of the Red Sox for the home of the Celtics was intriguing. CSN is aiming to become a complete news, feature, and analysis destination for the Red Sox and Celtics.

There is also freedom in not being the Red Sox network, because there is no worry about offending anyone associated with the organization.

"It's an extremely casual approach," Merloni said. "It's what people want to tune in to. It's opinionated. It's not the home of the Red Sox. We're not giving the company line. That's never been the case with me, I don't think. There are times you agree with the organization and there are times you don't. It's fresh. It's that talk-radio approach to TV."

Merloni doesn't have a formal agreement with WEEI, where he has worked the past year, but he enjoys being a regular guest on "The Big Show."

"During the season, I'll do a couple of days a week, maybe more during the playoffs," he said. "Last year, it went well. It started off as 'Come on in and we'll see how it goes.' I had a lot of fun with it and I continue to have a lot of fun with it. Nothing is really contractual in that sense. It's a matter of blending together [the TV and radio work]. It allows me to continue to do radio for the amount of times I would like."

When asked if there is any downside to the atmosphere at "The Big Show," where it is sometimes tough to get a word in edgewise, Merloni laughed.

"Unfortunately, after working there for a while, I took that over to my real world," he said. "I was butting into conversations with everybody. I have to separate my work from real life and at the dinner table conversations. It's a lot of fun."