Cone leaving ESPN broadcasts; Arbitration process in the spotlight, at least once more; Yanks bring back former farmhand Kaleb Ort.
The Athletic | Andrew Marchand: David Cone will no longer call MLB games for ESPN, Marchand reports. Cone had been a part of ESPN’s broadcast since 2022, but won’t be a part of their coverage going forward. With the network restructuring their MLB operation after moving off of Sunday Night Baseball and focusing more on weeknight games, coordinating Cone’s schedule became difficult given his contributions on the YES Network.
Selfishly, for Yankees fans, this could be great news; Cone has become one of the finest color commentators in the game, and less competition for his time should mean more appearances for Cone on Yankees broadcasts (which will also no longer feature John Flaherty or Jeff Nelson, whose contracts were not renewed).
NBC Sports: With NBC taking on Sunday Night Baseball, the network announced their full slate of matchups for the 2026 season. NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock will combine to broadcast 27 MLB games in primetime. Key Yankees games on the slate include a Sunday Night matchup in Boston on June 28th, and a Sunday Night showdown with the defending champs as the Bombers host the Dodgers on July 26th.
ESPN | Jeff Passan: Here’s more interesting detail on the arbitration process and what it means to the players and the league from Jeff Passan. With the current CBA expiring at the end of this season, the owners will surely take another crack at ending the arbitration system, while the players have clung dearly to the process that offers them their only chance at salary negotiation over the first several years of their careers.
In the spotlight is the best pitcher in the world, Tarik Skubal, who could choose to settle with the Tigers before they reach a hearing, or try to win his case and set a new milestone for his fellow players. Skubal filed for $32 million, which would break Juan Soto’s arbitration salary record of $31 million, paid to him by the Yankees in 2024, while the Tigers filed for a relatively paltry $19 million.
MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Only tangentially related to the Yankees as they never seemed to be a suitor, but the Diamondbacks reportedly pulled Ketel Marte off the trade block yesterday. This is most relevant to New York for what it means about who won’tbe trading for Marte this offseason, as the rival Red Sox were rumored to be heavily interested in Marte’s services. It’s of a piece with Boston’s trade-centric offseason strategy, with the Red Sox importing quality veterans like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras via trade but thus far showing less willingness to spend money on free agents.
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: In minor transaction news, the Yankees claimed right-handed reliever Kaleb Ort from Houston. The Astros had designated Ort after signing Tatsuya Imai. Ort, 33, was once a Yankee farmhand, spending 2017 through 2020 in New York’s-minor league system before getting poached by Boston in the Rule 5 Draft. Ort has posted a career 5.00 ERA across five seasons in the majors, including a 4.89 ERA in 46 innings last year with Houston.
Category: General Sports
