The Yankees announced today that Brian Sabean has been appointed executive advisor to senior vice president and general manager Brian Cashman.
This is a homecoming for Sabean, as he began his career in Major League Baseball with the Yankees. He was hired as a scout back in 1985, later earning other titles such as director of scouting and vice president of player development/scouting. He was with the organization as they drafted and signed the young players that would later form the core of the club that won four championships from 1996 to 2000. In relaying today’s news, Joel Sherman of The New York Post recalls a statement Cashman made about the teams of the ’90s. “The underrated heroes of the dynasty are Bill Livesey and Brian Sabean,” Cashman said.
However, Sabean was no longer with the Yankees when those trophies were lifted. He joined the Giants in 1993 as assistant to the general manager and vice president of scouting/player personnel. He would later be promoted to general manager in 1996. The Giants finished 68-94 in that year but went on to post winning records in each season from 1997 to 2004. They dipped below .500 for a few years but later returned to success in a big way, winning the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
After that third title, Sabean was given the new title of executive vice president of baseball operations and seemed to move away from the day-to-day business of running the club. Bobby Evans took over as the general manager and stayed in that role through the 2018 season. At that point, he was reassigned and Farhan Zaidi was hired as president of baseball operations. As those transitions were taking place, Sabean seemed to have moved into an advisory/scouting role.
The Giants released a statement about Sabean’s hiring to reporters, with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area among those to relay it on Twitter. “The San Francisco Giants would like to extend its deepest gratitude to Brian Sabean for his enormous contributions to our organization and wish him the best of luck in his new position with the New York Yankees.” The statement goes on to list the club’s aforementioned accomplishments during his tenure, before finishing thusly: “We truly believe he’s a Hall of Fame worthy executive in every sense of the word and wish him, his wife Amanda, and his entire family nothing but the best in the future. He will always be a Forever Giant.”
In the past few years, he has been connected to front office jobs with the Marlins and Mets that didn’t come to fruition, but he will now return to where his career began and rejoin the Yankees.
Now there’s 2 idiots running the team and not 1
What am I missing? I thought the Giants did well under his watch. I’m sure their fans might agree considering how they talk about the new guy.
They did, and they do
And as I noted below, he ran the Yankees farm that built their last dynasty. He has at least eight titles under his belt.
Maybe seven.
What you’re missing is Milwaukee 2208 hates the Yankees. For some reason. His hatred seems weird to me but whatever.
Jealousy.
He should be happy that his new owner is (and the Brewers themselves are) better than before…
Sabean was light years better than the current guy in SF
Weird move since our biggest criticism of Sabean in SF is that he liked to pay guys for what they did instead of what they could do. This had the Giants payroll filled with legacy players from the championship squads, then way past their prime or injured out of play.
This also seems to be a big concern of Yankee’s fans too so if I were them I would be wary of what comes after another good run at a title.
Lol, clearly you know nothing about baseball
@Milwaukee and if they hired you they’d have three. Sabean is solid
Natural: you dont like his opinion so you call him an idiot. Real rich, pal.
Apparently, you arent NATURAL at commenting.
Have a good day.
Thank you very little. He had it coming.
Yeah, two idiots with a combined 7 championships. Yep, that’s how idiocy works.
Uhh, combined 3 championships. Cashman doesn’t have any rings. Being the lazy guy who gets an A on a group project for Gene Michael/Kim Ng’s run in the 90s and George’s bucket list ring in 2009 isn’t exactly something to be known for.
Sabean is an idiot? How is that? Sabean originally was with the Yankees, and then went to the Giants organization for years.
Right, they are idiots whereas you are a genius.
11 rings between them. So, who’s the idiot?
Hopefully they let him do what he was great for back in the day; scouting. That is where the Yankees have the biggest deficit. They sign or try to sign the biggest names in the amateur international market but they routinely flop with the draft. Yes, they have Judge. A monster bat who several teams passed on because of medical questions. What about Blake Rutherford? Iirc he was taken 16th overall. James Kaprellian is another. He might finally be able to do something this year. With the A’s. Eric Jagiello was supposed to be the veteran 3rd baseman for the Yankees right now. Dante Bichette Jr? Kyle Holder? The Yankees need some decent prospect talent evaluation badly.
This is the part where we all throw our heads back and laugh
I kept telling you guys that Cashman couldn’t do it himself anymore, so here’s a helping hand.
I wonder if this is Hal or Cashman’s idea.
Both. Cashman and Sabean worked with each other prior.
How can it be both their idea?
This ought to be good ! ?
Cash and the Yankees just Dunked on Farhan Zaidi again. They retain Judge, Sign their Ace Rodon and now hire the only baseball guy in San Francisco that has ever had success.
Giants had a nice little run in the late 80’s under Al Rosen. Couple division titles and a pennant.
Nice try. Farhan’s Giants just had a 107 win season in 2021, with an unimpressive lineup. That’s successful as hell.
Before backsliding
They won’t hire anyone not named Brian.
Next up: Brian Griffin.
Does that mean the New York football Giants hire Brian Sipe then?
But does he play LF?
I hear he does on weekends.
Wow.
…hit send before adding he was as critical as any Yankee in building the Yankees last dynasty as head of scouting and player development. Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte. Posada and others were in his watch. Then, of course, he led the Giants to a number of World Series titles. I directly and directly, he has eight or nine titles.
Gene Michael and John Barr are the talent evaluators par excellence for each of those teams through their successes.
@whyhayzee, no single person was more important than Michael, but also no one single person can take credit. Michael could influence George as well as anyone, and at times basically refused to follow George’s orders to trade certain players, although he might conveniently come up with a lie about no one wants the player. He maneuvered Showalter into the manager’s job and Cashman into the GM’s role, although it wasn’t difficult since Steinbrenner respected both of them. Showalter, Cashman, Sabean were molded in the fire of Steinbrenner’s crucible. There’s a reason they’re still in the game today.
Excellent points, brother. This is a guy I would’ve loved to see replace Cashman altogether. Now, as executive advisor, I wonder how much of his input Cashman will be expected to take. If he’s smart, he will listen. If he’s Cashman, it will be a dog-and-pony show, and Cashman will end up talking about how the championship caliber team lost in the crapshoot abyss that is the playoffs – a special formula only the Astros can seem to figure out.
Cashman’s reputation is he builds a team of advisors and he takes their input. That said, on the downside, he may very well surround himself with people who think just like him. Sabean has had a lot of success. He’s not coming in to be Cashman’s yes man. I suspect Cashman and Hal are fine with him because he does know how the Yankees operate. At 66, I don’t see him as Cashman’s replacement, which is why this is a curious move on Sabean’s part.
I’ll never forget the Gene Michael story of when George wanted to trade Andy Pettitte right away to the Phillies for 2 pitching prospects and Michael kept telling interested teams that Pettitte was hurt and he couldn’t trade them an injured pitcher, when there was no such injury to Pettitte
He’s just doing this to bait Steve Cohen, who will now get involved and offer him $342 Million to advise Billy Eppler. “We just needed that one more exec. and this is it”.
@Captain, yes. George didn’t believe Pettitte was strong enough for NY or a big-game pitcher because he wasn’t outwardly demonstrative. Talk about a wrong read!
@Clip They also had the late Kevin Towers and obv Kim Ng years ago.
Who is this guy even?
I wasn’t sure if this was serious or a joke, but your use of ‘even’ is just too on the nose. Well played.
Nyy fans wanted fresh take on team, get one, complain. Lol dude won 3 WS as an exec, relax
But he didn’t do it with Cash as his boss.
He helped build cashman’s dynasty….
He’ll be joining Brian Roberts and Brian McCann in front office roles
And maybe Bryan Reynolds in left field!
Can they also make up a position for me? Title such as; Amateur Executive in Training & General Manager of Baseball Operations & On-Field Game Day Public Relations Supervisor Controller. How bout that title bahahahahahahahhaha
Assistant to the Traveling Secretary?
Head Scout for the New York Mets?
OMG, that’s one of the greatest Seinfeld episodes ever, when George was trying to get fired from the Yankees!!
As for Sabean, I think it’s a very solid move that will pay immediate dividends. I don’t understand why some people don’t like this move. Sabean would be a better GM for the Yanks that Cashman, as far as I’, concerned.
Too soon, dummy.
seems like anyone with association to the SF Giants the Yanks want to scoop up.
Seems like Giants are jumping ship
or just deny them their future.
but really you know he went from Yanks to Giants and now back to Yanks? the article states that.
Costanza.
I like the move. Sabean is a proven winner (3x over) and a new perspective might help with decision making.
Nailed it.
Praying for Damar Hamlin.
Hamlin probably doesn’t know much about front office dealings in MLB. However a lot of Rockies fans might take him in his present state as a replacement for their GM
Really?
#mrperkins – it would probably be an upgrade
I’m not trying to be disrectful, as I am praying for him too, but what does it have to do with a thread about Brian Sabean going to the Yankees?
No, just at the time of his injury and that Bills are form New York, you know Buffalo??..
Understood, Sir. Thank you for clarifying.
He helped construct three World Series championships for the Giants. So I don’t get the disappointment in some of these comments
It’s a bunch of uneducated baseball fans making comments because they dislike the Yankees. Anyone with a brain knows this is a good hire
You spelled brian wrong
He has bean in his name. Now they have cash and bean. Lots of counting going on.
The new Stick Michaels
Good move by the Yankees. Sabean built those 3 WS winning Giants teams. The Giants had hired him away from the Yankees because he was credited with drafting/signing Jeter, Rivera, Snow, Posada, and Pettitte.
First Giants (Zaidi) lose out on Judge, next Rodon, now Sabean jumps ship for the Yankees. Who else will choose Yankees over Giants (Zaidi)?
Don’t forget the coach who jumped ship 2 days ago
The Life of Brians
This is how the Yankees need to spend their money. They should have the best FO and coaching that money can buy.
Yet hothead Billy Boone is the skipper. When will he punch a used car salesman?
If they take the advice….
Hal: “Sabean, what do you think is wrong with the team? Why can’t we win with a $300MM payroll?”
Sabean: “Well, Hal, we need to develop better, draft better, and spend better on contracts in FA. You are overpaying to fix Cashman’s mistakes, sir.”
Hal: “So, you agree, it’s the crapshoot playoffs then?”
Sabean: “I still get paid no matter what, right?”
That’s a good point clip. I wonder who’s idea this was, was it Steinbrenner finally recognizing that Cashman is not doing his job, or Cashman himself. Of course if he did not think Cashman was doing the job, why bring him back with a new contract to begin with. Stranger things have happened.
But if it was Cashman himself, why would he want such an accomplished individual to be advising him, in the organization, possibly next in line to his job, and the competition. Hopefully this little bit of information will come out eventually. It is quite interesting.
Either way, it all goes well for the organization. A different competent voice, to have Steinbrenners attention.
John Barr did it:
courierpostonline.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/02/08/…
Solid hire for the Yankees. This dude helped build the Yankees 90’s dynasty and then built the Giants one.
Giants fans have missed him, especially with Farhan’s Follies.
I think we’re about done with Farhan’s follies
Sabey Sabester.
Saberino
Samberama ding dong
Nice! Can they also bring Gary Denbo back?
When Sabean stepped up and traded Williams in 96 for 3 unknowns – he was proclaimed the village idiot. He turned Giants into a winning pennants and WS 3 out of 4 times during his time.
Now what will Giants do next? I figure there will be some trades between SF and NYY
Yeah Sabe’s famous line was “ I’m not an idiot “
Time to book the parades for those even numbered year championships for the Yankees. My guess, 2026, 2028 & 2030.
What makes you suggest even numbers…. And three? /s
WeeGee board.
@Yankee Clipper
I’m following the same trend of the Giants. As the article states:
“They dipped below .500 for a few years but later returned to success in a big way, winning the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.”
So, the Yankees will dip below .500 for 2023, 2024 and then be above .500 in 2025 and then win it in 2026, 2028 & 2030.
Let’s book those parades.
I was just kidding around, York. It was apparently poor sarcasm on my part – seemed clearer in my head. You were clear in your articulation of the Yankee-Giants comparison.
Thanks for not calling me a dummy though! Appreciate ya, brother.
Hey, Clipper — what’s the procedure for blocking a commenter? There are several posters to whom I can’t reply. I normally don’t block anybody, but I’ve encountered one troll for whom I’d like to make an exception.
@fink i believe you just mute them and you won’t see anything from them, and at the top of the comments it will say you have x number of comments blocked.
Thanks!
yw i use the mute on the spam bots
Brodie got ya covered, Fink. Thanks BB for stepping in. The house was quiet so I snuck in a nap!
np glad to help
Good move, YC. I read that a Zen master was asked, “How do you practice Zen?” He answered: “When you are hungry, eat. When you are tired, sleep.”
A bit off topic, , but heard a funny story about Yogi told by Whitey Ford.
They went out to order pizza one night and when Yogi ordered, the girl asked him how he wanted his pizza cut:
Girl: “Sir, do you want your pizza cut in 12 or 8 slices?”
Haha, he was the best.
Yogi: “Oh, cut it in 8 slices because I don’t think I can eat 12…”
My favorite was one he told about a conversation with his wife, Carmen.
Yogi: “Where have you been?”
Carmen: “I took Tim to see ‘Doctor Zhivago.'”
Yogi: “What the hell’s wrong with him now?”
(Yogi explained, “Our game got rained out and I got home early. I was hungry.”)
I love Yogi stories. My wife loved the Aflac commercial he did.
Aflac! Forgot about those Yogi commercials… they were funny, man! Good call…
funny thing about yogi he is from a place in st. louis and signed with the yankees because they offered more money than the cards. my yogi rest in peace and to this day is very respected here in st. louis
that place is called “the hill” forgot to put that down
I remember the story where Yogi told someone no one went to a particular restaurant any more because it was always crowded.
For a sense of how different it was to be a major league ballplayer in Yogi’s day: He and Phil Rizzuto worked in the men’s clothing department of a department store during the offseason to supplement their income.
Good move. About time. Cashman needs help, maybe this is finally recognition of this fact.
Sabey Sabster…
He’s semi-retired at this point, but could help the Yankees scouting dept in an advisory role.
Might be reason to believe that things have been falling apart in Giants front office.
Come back Brian. Farhan and Krapler will never be any good. The Giants are falling apart without you there. He must live in New York. Pretty sure he does with his New York accent. I don’t follow where he’s from.
He’s jumping ship, as it’s sinking
Giants staff jumping ship fast now. Nobody likes the feeling of sitting on a sinking ship
Maybe Mr. Sabean can help Mr. Cashman put together a lineup that can actually hit Astros pitching?
It cant hurt.
I wonder why Sabean took this job. If he’s interested in taking another GM position, he shouldn’t need to prove himself.
The smell of the rain-washed florin, the lure of the lira, the glitter and the glory of the guinea, the romance of the ruble, the feel of the franc, the heel of a deutschmark, the cold antiseptic sting of the Swiss franc, and the sunburnt splendour of the Australian dollar.
Quit talking dirty lucre.
I know, I just couldn’t resist.
It was very poetic.
@fink it might also be he wants to join nyy until a gm job he wants opens up, your right he has nothing to prove sounds more of he’s taking a job he wants in a city he wants to be in.
Bumgarner, Cain, Crawford, Lincecum, Belt, Posey, etc….
Sure miss those days.. solid hire by the Yankees..
This guy was the architect of the Giants success:
John Barr will begin his 38th season as a baseball executive and his 15th season with the Giants. In December of 2019, Barr was honored as the Scout of the Year for the East Coast region, an award voted on by his peers. Under Barr’s guidance, the Giants have drafted players such as 2010 Rookie of the Year and 2012 National League MVP Buster Posey and All-Stars Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt among many others; (Logan Webb, Tyler Rogers, Austin Slater, Steven Duggar) all of whom contributed to the Giants’ successful 2021 season.
The Audubon, NJ, native entered the front office ranks in 1984 with the New York Mets as Administrative Assistant to Minor Leagues and Scouting where he remained until becoming the East Coast Supervisor for the Minnesota Twins in 1988. As Scouting Director for the Baltimore Orioles,(1989-90), Barr was responsible for selecting first rounders Ben McDonald (’89) and Hall of Famer Mike Mussina (’90). He served as Assistant General Manager for the San Diego Padres (1991-93) before returning to the New York Mets (1994-97) as Scouting Director. Barr then spent ten years (1998- 2007) with the Los Angeles Dodgers as East Coast Supervisor.
Barr was inducted into the Mid Atlantic Scouts Hall of Fame in November of 2008 and then inducted into the Professional Scouting Hall of Fame during the summer of 2009. He received the “Legends in Scouting Award” in January 2019 at the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation Awards Dinner. The Rider University graduate resides in Haddonfield, NJ, with his wife, Marianne.
No, he wasn’t. Sabean drafted Jeter, Bernie Williams, Posada and Pettitte. Any other salient points you’d like to make?
Jeter was on the Giants? Wow, who knew?
You might want to use quotes if you’re not going to post a link, whyhazee — you know, so you’re not posting somebody else’s work as if you composed it yourself.
mlb.com/giants/team/front-office/john-barr
Barr rightly gets credit for scouting those players, but Sabean drafted them. Sabean gets credit for recognizing that the team’s reliance on costly veteran players wasn’t working and they needed to build from within.
Sabean seemed to want to take a step back his last few years with the G’s. And Bobby Evans screwed up by Not trading for Melancon when they needed to. Then everything just blew up. Bum got hurt multiple times. The payroll was oversized. And they traded away Reynolds for Cutch. We needed right handed power at the Time. But again. Longo, Inconsistent play. The writing was on the Wall. And Farhan was hired to bring in a new direction for the Future.
I only wish Sabean would have never left the day to day operations and continued with Bochy but he had younger kids at the time. And it is what it is. Now he’s 66 and wants back in. The Yankees Bit.
I expect him to still be a part of the game. Certainly more than he would with the Giants. Give some Opinions. But I don’t expect much. Unless the Yankees fire Cashman ?
Finally, someone with an eye for amateur talent. I would have liked to have seen him as the GM. Perhaps he was offered it and declined given his age.
One thing I like about him, he was flexible. When the win-now approach during the Barry Bonds years failed, he changed philosophies, rather than being a stubborn fool. He started building through the farm system with spectacular results. The Yankees have been loathe to call up youngsters in the past and continue with this stubbornness up to the present. Hopefully Sabean will change that.
He’s a scout at heart. His hands were tied with the teams budget and they basically neglected the farm and went all in on veterans. When Bonds was chasing the home run record the park was full every night and he was able to focus on scouting and developing the farm. What came next will probably be my greatest
Experience at a baseball fan. 3 championships in 5 years.
Sabean’s record as Giants GM
1556-1358 .534
3 WS championships
4 NL pennants
5 NL West crowns
2 WC wins
This, from the East Bay Times, tells a lot about Sabean’s decision:
‘While Sabean was said to be working on strategic initiatives as a senior advisor and evaluator since Zaidi took over a restructured front office after the 2018 season, he said his role was more diminished than he expected.
‘“I expected to be more involved and in some cases, it didn’t turn out that way,” Sabean said. “At my age, I still have a great passion for the game. … I think I needed to be in a place that I could give back, be a mentor, contribute at any level at any time. This was a better opportunity, and it fit my family better, to be honest with you.”
‘Sabean said he expressed to Baer and Zaidi “some family needs and professional interests.” That he landed with the Yankees, where he got his start in pro baseball as a scout in 1985, “worked out beyond my wildest dreams,” he said.
. . .
‘“Obviously with new regimes, there are new group dynamics and wants and needs. It became what it was,” Sabean said. “I’m just so thankful that I’m relevant enough to get this opportunity. At my age, it’s all about being wanted and needed, and I feel that here with the Yankees.”’
eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/03/after-30-seasons-with-…
Now I get it.
Yeah, Farhan chased Sabean away. Just like he chased Bochy away
Cashman in self-preservation mode – surround yourself with dinosaurs and keep those 30-something multi-degreed Harvard types as far away as possible.,