Cubs TV analyst Brenly says he won't be back for '13 season

Bob Brenly

Brenly expected to return to Arizona and take over broadcasting duties for the Diamondbacks

Chicago Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly made it official Wednesday: He's decided not to return to the team’s broadcast booth in 2013, and plans to look for another baseball broadcasting job.  

It might be a short job search.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Brenly, the former Arizona Diamondbacks manager who has been in the Cubs' booth since replacing Steve Stone in 2005, is widely expected to return to Arizona and take over for Mark Grace, whom the D-backs placed on leave after a DUI arrest this summer. "Working here in Chicago was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my professional career," Brenly said in a statement. "I was very blessed to have the best play-by-play man in the game as my partner for eight years and Cubs’ fans are very fortunate to have Len Kasper as the voice of the Cubs. I’ll miss working with him and we look fondly toward returning to Chicago in the future." "We wish Bob well in his next broadcasting position and thank him for his years of outstanding work on Cubs games on WGN-TV," said Steve Farber, WGN's acting GM and VP of programming for Tribune Broadcasting. No word yet on who will replace Brenly in Chicago's booth.