Yankees bring back Brian Sabean after World Series success with Giants

The Yankees are bringing back a familiar face — one with three World Series rings from another organization — to add depth to the front office.

Brian Sabean, who spent eight years in the organization at the start of his professional baseball career, has been hired as executive adviser to senior vice president and general manager Brian Cashman, the Yankees announced Tuesday.

Sabean, 66, served as Giants general manager from 1996-2015 before he was promoted to executive vice president of baseball operations for three seasons. Since 2018, he had served in a senior advisory capacity with the Giants.

Under his leadership, the Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

“It’s something of a strange twist of fate over 30 years to rejoin the organization that I started in,” Sabean said on a Zoom call. “It’s humbling. At my age I really appreciate being wanted and needed. … I will do anything to help the Yankees win another World Series and more so. Our family is thrilled and we’re totally invested.”

A former college coach, Sabean joined the Yankees as a scout in 1985 before serving as director of scouting and vice president of player development and scouting. During Sabean’s tenure with the club, the Yankees developed the nucleus of their teams that won four World Series in five years, with names such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera at the forefront.

Sabean credited executives such as Gene Michael, Bill Livesey, Mark Newman and George Bradley with laying the groundwork for the Yankees’ success.

“We were probably best-in-class in scouting and player development,” Sabean said. “To be part of that and watch that grow, and then when I left for the Giants [before the 1993 season] and see that come to fruition was extremely gratifying. I look back at the think tank that we had, savants that were baseball people that were beyond reproach as far as their intelligence. Their ability to teach the game and their passion for the game, it really set a tone in the minor leagues for players that helped as players graduated to the big leagues and ultimately became champions.”

Sabean brings a traditional scouting and development approach to an organization that has leaned heavily on analytics in recent years. He will report directly to Cashman and expects to be involved in all facets of the front office. Sabean said his contract was allowed to expire with the Giants because of a personal matter with an extended family in which relocating to the East Coast was preferable. Sabean said his first thought when he became a free agent was working with Cashman.

Now Sabean will start looking for answers that could help the Yankees.

“I am going to do a deep dive, probably watching all the playoff games,” Sabean said. “I need some time just coming into the organization to get debriefed and see what my thoughts are.”