YES Network.com

January 6, 2010, 8:16 PM

Cone Leaves YES Network

David Cone, who joined the YES Network as a Yankees analyst in 2008, is not coming back.

“My YES deal was up at the end of the 2009 season, and I’ve chosen not to return in 2010 in order to spend more time with my family,” he said in a statement. “If I do return to broadcasting, YES would be my first choice.”

Even without Cone, an analyst in the booth and studio for 61 regular-season games last season, YES still has the remaining analysts Ken Singleton, who also calls play-by-play; John Flaherty; Paul O’Neill and Al Leiter.

A YES spokesman said no decision had been made on replacing Cone and one scenario would be not to hire anyone.

“David was a valued member of our team,” the network said in a statement. “He will be missed.”

When Cone joined YES, he said he had struggled to find a career niche after his pitching career ended.
“I really underestimated the transition game,” said Cone, who also worked for YES in 2002.

Cone Leaves YES Network

Cone is doing the right thing, lets hope he keeps on doing the right thing.

I have MLB.TV and I listen to all teams' announcers over the course of the year. David Cone is far from the worst announcer in baseball. He's actually a pleasant personality to listen to compared to many, although part of that is that YES has one of the classiest baseball presentations of any network. That said, he does need to work on his craft, so maybe this break will allow him to do that -- broadcast school, etc.