YES Network drops three Yankees analysts including John Flaherty

YES Network has decided to move on from New York Yankees analyst John Flaherty after two decades as a prominent member of their broadcast crew.

Andrew Marchand of The Athletic was first to report the news Wednesday afternoon. In addition to Flaherty, The Athletic reports YES Network also won’t be bringing back part-time analysts Jeff Nelson and Dave Valle next season.

Flaherty went straight into the booth after spending three seasons with the Yankees to conclude a 14-year playing career as a catcher in 2005. He was a well-regarded analyst, and even filled in as a play-by-play voice on occasion when Michael Kay and Ryan Ruocco were unavailable. But after YES declined to pick up an option in his contract earlier this year, Flaherty told The Athletic he wasn’t surprised by their decision to move on.

“I was kind of prepared for it so I think that helped,” Flaherty said. “It quickly went from, the reality that you are not going to be back to what a great run for 20 years to go right from retiring as a player to right into the booth in 2006 and stay with the same network for 20 years. I just became very grateful for what a long and great run it has been at YES and being connected with the Yankees all those years.”

Without Flaherty, Nelson and Valle, YES is moving forward with a more condensed rotation of analysts, featuring David Cone, Paul O’Neill and Joe Girardi. According to The Athletic, Kay is expected to call approximately 135 games next season, with Ruocco set to have around 15 games on his schedule, continuing as one of the best No. 2 announcers in baseball.

One of the biggest complaints about the YES Network’s Yankee broadcasts over the years has been the large rotating cast of analysts who are often featured. In contrast, their crosstown rival New York Mets have offered a steadier trio of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez since 2005, earning themselves the honor of often being considered the best booth in baseball.

It was never a knock against Flaherty or any individual analyst, but the large rotation would inherently disrupt cohesion and chemistry. Opting to move forward with just Cone, O’Neill and Girardi next season on YES should help to finally answer one of the most frequent criticisms against the Yankees TV crew.