The New York Yankees have added another veteran executive to their front office. The Yankees have hired former New York Mets GM Omar Minaya as an advisor to baseball operations, the team announced Thursday. The Yankees recently hired former San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean as an executive advisor.
Minaya, 64, grew up in Queens and got into scouting after his minor-league playing career ended in the mid-1980s. He started his front office career with the Texas Rangers before moving on to the Mets, the Montreal Expos, back to the Mets, the San Diego Padres, and then back to the Mets for a third stint. He served as Expos GM from 2002-04 and Mets GM from 2005-10.
Most recently, Minaya worked with Major League Baseball as a consultant for domestic and international amateur scouting initiatives. He has been credited with helping the Rangers unearth players like Sammy Sosa and Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez during his scouting tenure with Texas. Minaya is regarded as one of the most successful and respected scouting minds in the game.
The Yankees have been cricitized in recent years for leaning too heavily on analytics and it appears the team agrees with that assessment. Sabean and Minaya come from scouting backgrounds and will bring balance to the front office. Here's what GM Brian Cashman told The Athletic about the Sabean hire:
"He's a quality baseball scout and executive," Cashman said. "He's sat in my chair and understands the pulse of the game and how things emerge and evolve and what you push all in on and what you push back on. He's done all of those things with a lot of success."
That certainly applies to Minaya given all the different hats he's worn in his career. He's scouted, he's run a front office, and he's also been a consulant and advisor as well.
The Yankees went 99-63 in 2022 and won the AL East, but again lost to the Houston Astros in the ALCS. It was the third time the Astros eliminated the Yankees in the ALCS in the last six seasons.
