YES crew discussion marketplace 2019

[HelloNewman]

Your thoughts on the performance of various YESsies this season go here, if you will.

I like Jack Curry in the studio. Nothing specific that he did today but I find he's pretty insightful and willing to criticize which is a rare YES trait. Wanted to start with something positive.

Now --

Meredith Marakovits is really a terrible interviewer. Her postgame talk with Gio Urshela was textbook on how NOT to interview an ESL speaker who is making a good-faith effort to go it alone without the interpreter next to him. I cringed.

[ZIM 2002]

I agree about Jack Curry - as recently as the other day in the Angels postgame he was criticizing Boone's propensity to use-the-lesser-relievers-to-save-the better-ones. He has relaxed a lot since his first year on Yes. As for Meredith, whenever I see the Spanish translator helping out a player being interviewed, it renews my appreciation of Carlos Beltran for getting there to be Spanish translators with the teams!!

[JDPNYY]

Here are my thoughts on the YES crew. (Because I was asked in a different thread)

The Best:

Kenny is great. A pro. Excellent at both PbP and analysis. Look out.

Cone is great. I love his deep dive into more meaningful stats and analytics.

Lorenzo and Curry do a good job at what they do.

OK:

I actually don't mind Paulie. Kay makes him worse tho. He sometimes adds good insight. At times a bit too goofy.

Could be good, but never will be because he fits his big head:

Kay would be a very good play by play guy if he did ever did play by play. He spews out useless facts and stats that no one cares about and tries to run a talk show during every game. Just do play by play. Kenny is his only partner who doesn't put up with his talk show nonsense. Everyone else gets caught up in it.
Oh and whoever is feeding Kay his lines. I hate you.


Simply awful and should not be employed by YES in any position:

Flaherty is boring, monotone adds nothing and it is beyond me why a part time Yankee who was a very part time player has this job and for so long. It's incredible.

Roucco is flat out terrible. A try hard who has a terrible voice. It's another head scratcher why he would be employed in this line of work.

Meredith is useless. A reporter who rarely, if ever, gets breaking news in any sort of a timely fashion. As an interviewer, I've not heard anyone as bad.

No explanation:
Nancy Newman? I have no idea what's going on there.

The past:

Al Leiter was fine.

Jim Kaat was really great. They blew it by losing him.


Back in the day, I loved the Messer, White & Scooter trio.

[HelloNewman]

No explanation:
Nancy Newman? I have no idea what's going on there.

Someone posted a few years ago that she's a family friend of the Steinbrenners, but I don't know if that's true.

[trapper700]

It feels almost like Kay doesn't want the job sometimes. He just likes being "The Voice of the Yankees" for the fame and prestige of it, so he can go to the parties and boast on the radio and rub shoulders with legends and celebrities. But he can't do any of that unless he keeps calling games so we're all trapped with him. He can't turn off the drive-time radio takes anymore and it sucks, he never shuts up and he never stops saying dumb hot takes.

I hope Ruocco becomes the lead PBP guy someday soon, he's great and you can tell he actually enjoys talking about the sport and game. The Ruocco+Cone booth is so solid. I have a strong feeling that the opinion of Ruocco is dependent on age. If you're a boomer or older you probably dislike him, if you're a millennial or younger you probably like him and if you're in between it's a toss up.

Anecdotally, the number of people in my age group that I know who dislike him (both irl and on various other forums and sites) could probably be counted on one hand and most I know are big fans - especially because of how great R2C2 is. Seriously, everyone listen to R2C2.

[HelloNewman]

Really dislike those too-cute "Yankee Clipper" promos in the faux barbershop. Lowlight: Michael Kay saying "You can never have too many Ks (Kays) in the bullpen" and Singleton returning: "Or the broadcast booth." I usually like Singleton but his tone is so sycophantic there that I cringe.

[ace]

I’ve enjoyed the announce crews this year. Even MK isn’t annoying me as much as he usually does, and I think O’Neill has really come into his own. The Kay-O’Neill-Cone booth has good chemistry and I’d like it if they were the team for the bulk of the games.

I think YES could use a refresh though. The presentation is a little stale especially if you compare it to other teams broadcasts that bring in more advanced stats and pop up more useful information on the screen from time to time. One that stands out to me is the Astros broadcast which I like a lot. Another thing that most other teams have is a consistent announce team. Like above if it were K/PO/DC a majority of the time it would be better and more cohesive than shuffling people in and out every series.

Simply awful and should not be employed by YES in any position:

Roucco is flat out terrible. A try hard who has a terrible voice. It's another head scratcher why he would be employed in this line of work.

Meredith is useless. A reporter who rarely, if ever, gets breaking news in any sort of a timely fashion. As an interviewer, I've not heard anyone as bad.

Agree Meredith doesn’t bring anything. They could do away with her and not miss a beat. I think the sideline reporter is such a fixture in sports broadcasting now it’s as if they have to have someone in that role. Every network wants their Erin Andrews.

Ruocco is flat awful. He’s where he is because he was Michael Kay’s coffee boy at ESPN radio.

[Dr. Gonzo]

cone and singleton is the best booth

kay is annoying, oddly good on centerstage but that's it

o'neill has gotten better and is goofy good, he was very different in the start, I would appreciate the naivety more now

flarherty is a waste

and if you get a sideline girl make her out, they always get manly looking women

[Munson4ever]

cone and singleton is the best booth

kay is annoying, oddly good on centerstage but that's it

o'neill has gotten better and is goofy good, he was very different in the start, I would appreciate the naivety more now

flarherty is a waste

and if you get a sideline girl make her out, they always get manly looking women

I don't get the YES network being a fan out in CA. I agree with this post especially re. flarherty. He is a Yankee hater, therefore, I hate him. It's like the Rangers hiring Michelletti or Nichelletti. He hates the Rangers and totally sucks at color. I'm amazed he is watching the same game that he's broadcasting to me. Where's The Big Whistle when you need him. But I guess I digress.

I like the female interviewer. But I only see her for injury updates (and I think she is very good at that) and the occasional after game field interview that sometimes makes it to MLB network.

David Cone is easily the best. Tells it like it is, and really has insight to the game and especially the pitching perspective. O'Neill is...is...meh. I like him because he was a good ballplayer. I would love to see David Wells join the booth with Cone and let Kenny Singleton call the PbP.

[JL25and3]

I don't get the YES network being a fan out in CA. I agree with this post especially re. flarherty. He is a Yankee hater, therefore, I hate him. It's like the Rangers hiring Michelletti or Nichelletti. He hates the Rangers and totally sucks at color. I'm amazed he is watching the same game that he's broadcasting to me. Where's The Big Whistle when you need him. But I guess I digress.

I like the female interviewer. But I only see her for injury updates (and I think she is very good at that) and the occasional after game field interview that sometimes makes it to MLB network.

David Cone is easily the best. Tells it like it is, and really has insight to the game and especially the pitching perspective. O'Neill is...is...meh. I like him because he was a good ballplayer. I would love to see David Wells join the booth with Cone and let Kenny Singleton call the PbP.

As I’ve said many times, Singleton is easily their best PbP guy. As a color commentator, he’s nothing special. Singleton and Cone would be a dream team - serious about the game, informative, and entertaining..

[JDPNYY]

Does the fact that the simply awful John Flaherty is doing play by play now mean that the powers that be realize how bad Roucco is?

Let's hope so. And let's hope those same powers watched today's game and realize they also need to move on from Flaherty as well.

[Benefactor]

Here are my thoughts on the YES crew. (Because I was asked in a different thread)

.
Meredith is useless. A reporter who rarely, if ever, gets breaking news in any sort of a timely fashion. As an interviewer, I've not heard anyone as bad.
.

Ken Rosenthal. I've never heard anyone talk on a topic for 15 minutes without saying much of anything. He just rehashes what other have been saying for weeks. Does he even have sources?

[don4yanks]

Ruocco and Flaherty are individually, simply horrible. Together, they are a complete, total cure for insomnia.

[nyy42]

Ruocco and Flaherty are individually, simply horrible. Together, they are a complete, total cure for insomnia.

and Flaherty & Cone should never call games together.

[JL25and3]

and Flaherty & Cone should never call games together.

Flaherty and ______________ should never call games together. Fill in the blank.

[JDPNYY]

Flaherty and ______________ should never call games together. Fill in the blank.

Everyone

[JL25and3]

Everyone

Come on, John. I know you’re secretly hoping for the "dream team" of Flaherty and Tino Martinez.

[JDPNYY]

Come on, John. I know you’re secretly hoping for the "dream team" of Flaherty and Tino Martinez.

Only because Tino might get so frustrated and annoyed at Flaherty that IF he were able to stay awake he might strangle Flaherty.

[ace]

I thought Wells was awesome.

Had no idea he’d be popping up on Yes so when they went to him and Bob I must say I geeked out a little.

[PatG]

Cone and Ken Singleton are great.

Paulie adds his goofy thoughts and can be entertaining.

Ryan Rucco is very enthusiastic and obviously loves the job.

I thought Willy Randolph was great when he was in the booth during spring training games. He should replace Kay, who
has worn out his welcome.

Flaherty is like listening to paint dry.

Meredith, the world's largest woman, has to go.

[sjb23]

I really like the idea of Willie Randolph doing more broadcasts. Very knowledgeable, good insight, good sense of humor, and a big Yankee supporter.

I miss both Jim Kaat and Al Leiter, and although I like Cone in the booth, I'd rather see him replace Larry Rothschild as pitching coach.

For me, Meredith serves her purpose well.

Flaherty should be the new WB Mason guy.

[Murcer and Munson]

I find it very disappointing that an organization like the Yankees has so many poor announcers. Sterling and Waldman, to me, are unbearable to listen to.
Singleton and Cone are very good as many others have said. O’Neil disappoints me,I thought he would be better. Kay has never been good,but he really grates on me now. Every HR call
is the same: High fly ball,track,wall...see ya.

[primetime714]

I at least like that they're starting to look for new talent with Jeff Nelson and Boomer getting some cameos. Begging Singleton to stick around isn't going to work much longer. They're desperate for some PBP guys. Probably worried that someone will tap Cone to coach too.

[PatG]

Someone called into Kay's show and asked if Cone would want to become the Yankees pitching coach. Kay said that Cone has a young son and would not want to be away from him for long periods of time.

[HelloNewman]

Someone called into Kay's show and asked if Cone would want to become the Yankees pitching coach. Kay said that Cone has a young son and would not want to be away from him for long periods of time.

Yeah this whole "Cone as pitching coach" meme has always struck me as baseless wishcasting, even without the thing about his son. Not sure how much a freethinking "march to his own drummer" type would enjoy trying to lead a bunch of young jockos who aren't always receptive to wisdom -- not that you won't have veterans to deal with too but they already know for the most part what they're doing, most of the heavy lifting is with the kids.

Reminds me of the days when people here by the dozens used to try to pump up the idea of Mike Mussina as pitching coach. I've met the guy several times, my impression was he'd rather be boiled in oil than deal with a lot of young fireballers with half his IQ. Cone is more gregarious than Moose but I could see his patience running out fairly fast in its own right.