John Sterling will be 85 in July, and is not going anywhere as the Yankees’ radio play-by-player. WFAN and the team expect him to do most, but not all, of the games this upcoming season. 

This is why Justin Shackil is on the verge of what one day could become a very big job, The Post has learned. FAN is expected to offer Shackil the job vacated by Sweeny Murti. 

While terms still need to be agreed upon and it is still being worked out if Shackil will do both the pre- and postgame show, he would become Sterling’s permanent play-by-play backup with the expectation the 36-year-old would call 25 games this year, give or take. He could also continue to do some YES Network fill-in work.

Shackil will not be guaranteed to succeed Sterling if he ever does retire, but if a contract is agreed upon, he would have a long, public audition to be next in line. Besides YES and Yankee Stadium work, Shackil calls boxing for DAZN and hosts a podcast with David Cone and YES researcher James Smyth. 

Last year, Sterling cut back on the amount of games he called, but is determined to do as many as possible. Sterling still loves to call games, though he has not been shy about not enjoying traveling anymore.

FAN had to scramble some last year to fill in the dates with Ryan Ruocco, a top choice, largely unavailable due to his YES and ESPN commitments. 

Brendan Burke stood out, but his NHL work on Islanders’ and TNT’s telecasts prevents him from being able to be on call for FAN. Rickie Ricardo, the Yankees’ Spanish language announcer, offered a big sound. And Shackil excelled.

In Murti’s old spot, FAN wants someone who can do the studio shows and be ready, at any moment, to team with analyst Suzyn Waldman if Sterling needs games off. 

WCBS, which along with FAN is owned by Audacy, will have a similar setup with Howie Rose being joined by newcomer Keith Raad. Pat McCarthy will be the swing man, serving as the pre- and postgame reporter and as Rose’s backup. Shackil could have a similar role, if it all works out.

ESPN New York’s sound changed to start the year, but the results stayed the same for the first month of the winter radio book. FAN beat ESPN New York in all parts. It is only the first month of a three-month period, so full conclusions should not be drawn.

ESPN New York’s “DiPietro and Rothenberg,” in its first month head-to-head with WFAN’s No. 1 show, “Boomer & Gio,” were 14th in the market (2.6 percent), while Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti were atop the Nielsen Audio New York charts with 11.3 share of the 25-54 males that the two stations traditionally sell advertising against. In afternoons, from 3-6:30 p.m., WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts” were second in the market (7.8 share), while ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show” was tied for 14th (3.1 percent). In middays, “Tiki & Tierney” were third (6.0), while the combo of Mike Greenberg and Bart Scott and Alan Hahn’s shows were tied for 13th (2.4).

MSG Network failing to send the Rangers’ announcers out west to broadcast live from the arenas is embarrassing. An MSG spokesman said that it was the plan from the beginning of the season. When asked why, the spokesman said that was all he could say on the subjects.

To us, it’s the New York Rangers, the announcers should be on site, the same way the Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Nets TV announcers are all on site. 

While the men’s World Cup will not be held in North America until 2026, it takes years to develop and prepare for the tournament. George Dohrmann’s “Switching Fields (Inside the Fight to Remake Soccer in the United States)” investigates how the men’s game is trying to figure out how to develop players so it can have similar success as the women’s team on the grandest soccer stage. Our resident book reviewer, Papa Clicker, my dad, Herb Marchand, gives Dohrmann 4.3 out of 5 clickers for its efforts.