The YES Network will not bring back longtime New York Yankees analyst and play-by-play announcer John Flaherty as part of a series of moves to streamline its broadcast operations to feature prominent commentators David Cone, Paul O’Neill and Joe Girardi, sources familiar with the decision said. The athlete.
Flaherty, 58, has been in the Yankees’ program for two decades after playing three seasons with the team during a 14-year career. Cone, O’Neill and Girardi all won championships with the Yankees and are part of the Derek Jeter/Mariano Rivera championship dynasty that lasted from the late 1990s into the 2000s. The plan is to have one or two of the trio’s analysts appear on each broadcast in the next year.
Kuhn was a commentator on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” Next season, under a new agreement that has not yet been announced, ESPN will no longer have “Sunday Night Baseball,” but will have 30 exclusive weekday games at various points during the season.
As part of YES’ roster revamp, part-time analysts Jeff Nelson and Dave Vale will also not return to Yankee broadcasts in 2026. A YES spokesperson confirmed the decisions of Flaherty, Nelson and Vale.
Flaherty said The athlete He wasn’t surprised by the move when YES executive producer Jared Bochnak officially informed him on Monday. Flaherty had an option on his contract that YES declined in August, but could have tried to re-sign him to a new deal.
“I was prepared for it, and I think that helped me,” Flaherty said. “It quickly went from the fact that you were never going to go back to what it was like to have a great 20-year career to going straight from retirement as a player to righty in the booth in 2006 and staying with the same network for 20 years. I became very grateful for the long, wonderful career I had in YES and connecting with the Yankees for all those years.”
Flaherty said it’s exciting to think there might be other opportunities in broadcasting or perhaps doing something professional outside of baseball for the first time in nearly four decades as he signed his first minor league contract when he was 20 years old.
While Flaherty was well-prepared and well-received as an analyst and batted when major leaguer Michael Kay and No. 2 Ryan Rocco were unavailable, Yes was ridiculed in some circles for his lack of consistency in the analyst booth. Across town for the New York Mets, the SNY trio of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez were in the booth together and are generally considered the best homegrown winger in the game.
Kay will call about 135 games next season; Ruocco will call about 15 games between his ESPN schedule.
With Girardi, who has won trophies as a player and manager, returning to the YES wing in 2024, the cuts were made possible because YES felt they had three outstanding analysts to offer.
After the season ends, all networks reevaluate where they stand, so YES is taking a complete inventory of its game and studio productions. Bob Lorenz and Jack Carey are long-time YES supporters in the pre-game and post-game phase.
YES has been trying to reposition its game broadcasts in recent years. In 2022, YES brought on Carlos Beltran and Cameron Maybin to be part of the game and studio analysts, but quickly moved on from the duo. Beltran left on his own to join the Mets’ front office a year later.
It is now focusing on its latest issue, which includes what it considers its top three analysts, Kuhn, O’Neill and Girardi.
