When the Yankees announce their World Series lineup, Brian Sabean's fingerprints will be on it.
General manager Brian Cashman on Wednesday called Sabine his “consigliere” and said he still relies on the man he started working with in the Bronx nearly 40 years ago. That included a conversation the two had on Tuesday about building the Yankees' roster.
“Like any player in the sports world, he understands what it takes to win,” Cashman said.
It's been a long journey for the 68-year-old Sabine to return to the organization where he began his professional baseball career as a scout in 1985.
He eventually became head of the Yankees' scouting department and was responsible for player development.
As Cashman noted, Sabean played a direct role in the Yankees drafting or signing Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera and getting them through the minor leagues. Ta.
But shortly before that group began winning World Series titles, as Cashman said, due to the organization's “instability” under coach George Steinbrenner, the Sabeans ultimately He was part of a group that decided to leave.
Sabine helped the Giants win three World Series championships (2010, 2012 and 2014) as GM, before retiring after the 2022 season.
At that time, Cashman hired him for another stint with the Yankees.
Follow The Post's coverage of the Yankees in the postseason.
“He was one of the driving forces behind getting us ready for championships in the 1990s and early 2000s,” Cashman said. “After that, he built great things in San Francisco not once, not twice, but three times.”
His title is Cashman's “Executive Advisor” and he always has Cashman's ear.
“It felt kind of surreal to be with the Yankees again and to be able to come this far,” Sabean said of returning to the World Series.
“He's one of the great baseball players of our generation,” Cashman said. “I was always saddened that he didn't get the recognition he deserved for what happened in the championship. I brought him back because he was fighting the war. He has experience and knows everything about amateur scouting, player development and building a world championship team. And I wanted him back where he belongs.”
Before leading the Giants to a title, Sabine watched his Yankees win five championships.
“It was a great experience and energized my passion for the game,” Sabean said. “This is where I wanted to be. In the back of my mind, I always wanted to end up with the Yankees, because a lot of the seeds that we planted were going to be the core of that '96 team, and I'm going to have to watch it from afar. Because it was.”
As he said, Sabine was leaning against the railing of the home dugout at Yankee Stadium during Tuesday's team practice, so it's safe to say he'll have a better view this time.
“He’s always at the table,” Cashman said. “Whether it's a trade, a free agent signing or whatever, he's playing a role. His pedigree is Hall of Fame. What he did in this game, against us. He seems to be a forgotten figure, but people here, myself included, know that while Gene Michael was an architect, they were similar. I am aware that he was a person. [former scouting director Bill] Livesey and Sabean did a lot of the heavy lifting to get us to where we ended up. ”
