David Cone will no longer call games for ESPN.

David Cone Out at ESPN

A former Yankees’ pitching great is out at ESPN.

Per Front Office Sports, Cone no longer works for ESPN.

BREAKING: David Cone, one of the most highly regarded baseball analysts in the business, is out at ESPN.

The question now is whether Cone will jump to NBC as it takes over ESPN’s old Sunday night slot.

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 9, 2026

“We appreciate David’s many contributions to our Major League Baseball coverage and wish him the best,” a spokesperson said to Front Office Sports.

Cone joined ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team in 2022. Cone announced games alongside Karl Ravech and Eduardo Pérez.

ESPN will no longer call Sunday Night Baseball. Starting this season, NBC and Peacock are the new home of Sunday Night Baseball.

ESPN will now broadcast games during the week, with most occurring in the summer months.

The midweek games conflict with Cone’s obligations to the Yankees and the YES Network. Cone, who has participated in the Yankees’ Old-Timers Day games, is one of the top analysts for the Yankees’ network.

Instead of trying to work out the schedules, ESPN chose not to re-sign Cone.

It’s possible Cone could end up at one of the new networks with MLB broadcast rights, including NBC and Netflix.

NBC and Netflix have not announced their broadcast teams for the 2026 season.

YES Network’s Announcer Changes

Some of the most familiar faces on the YES Network will not be in the booth this season.

John Flaherty, a former Yankees catcher and YES announcer, will no longer work for the network. Flaherty had been with the YES Network for over two decades.

Jeff Nelson and Dave Valle, two part-time analysts, will also not broadcast games for the YES Network in 2026.

The YES Network plans to stabilize its booth this season instead of having a rotating door of fill-ins.

Michael Kay will remain the top play-by-play broadcaster. Kay is expected to call 135 games.

Ryan Ruocco, the No. 2 play-by-play guy at YES, will call around 15 games. Ruocco also works for ESPN as an NBA and WNBA announcer.

Joining Kay in the booth will be Cone, Paul O’Neill, and Joe Girardi. The plan is to have one or two of the analysts in the booth alongside Kay or Ruocco.

Cone, O’Neill, and Girardi played for the Yankees during the late 1990s and were a part of multiple World Series teams.