The Yankees are not renewing the contracts of Omar Minaya and Brian Sabean, according to The New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Both were serving as advisors to general manager Brian Cashman. The two executives are now free to look for jobs in other clubs’ front offices.
Minaya and Sabean were both hired by the Yankees in January 2023. Minaya held the title of senior advisor to baseball operations, while Sabean was more of a general advisor to Cashman. The soon-to-be 68-year-old Minaya has worked in baseball front offices for over four decades. He most prominently served as the general manager of the Expos from 2002-04, then as the Mets’ general manager for the 2005-10 seasons. Some highlights from the latter tenure include signing Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran as free agents, acquiring Johan Santana via trade, and drafting Matt Harvey in 2010.
Minaya was fired as GM in October 2010. He spent the following years working in the Padres’ baseball operations department and with the Players Association as an advisor to then-executive director Tony Clark. Minaya returned to the Mets in special assistant and ambassador roles before a brief stint as a consultant for MLB and finally, his time with the Yankees. It’s been eight years since Minaya served as a GM in any capacity, being part of the Mets’ interim committee in 2018 when Sandy Alderson took a leave of absence. Nonetheless, he comes with plenty of experience and should garner interest in an advisory role.
Sabean began his front office career with the Yankees in the mid-1980s and played a role in obtaining key players for the club’s late-90s dynasty, though he left for the Giants in 1993 before those championships were won. He spent the next three decades in the Giants’ front office, serving as their GM for the 1997-2014 seasons. He was at the helm of baseball ops for the team’s World Series appearance in 2002 and the even-year dynasty of the 2010s, when they won three World Series titles.
Sabean served in non-GM roles from 2015-22 before leaving for the Yankees job. Like Minaya, he figures to get interest from clubs in an advisory capacity, but probably not in a direct decision-making role. With the Astros’ hiring of Randy Flores as GM, the Angels are the only club still looking for a baseball ops leader. Interim GM John Mozeliak is not a candidate for the full-time job, but he could stick around until a new GM is hired. Perhaps new owner Stan Kroenke wants an experienced exec who can oversee a multi-year rebuild, though Minaya and Sabean are probably long shots for that top job, given how long it’s been since they were full-time GMs.
