The New York Yankees have made a couple of savvy front office hires this week.
First, they secured the services of Brian Sabean, the man who built the San Francisco Giants’ teams around Barry Bonds in the late-90s and early-2000s, and then put together the 2010-2014 dynasty that yielded three World Series titles.
Then, on Thursday, they also brought in Omar Minaya, a former Montreal Expos and New York Mets general manager.
Both will be advisors to general manager and executive vice president Brian Cashman.
A Yankees legend, Alex Rodriguez – instrumental in the 2009 World Series title – voiced his opinion about the two hires made by New York.
“Sabean and Minaya- two excellent baseball minds added to Yankees front office. Yanks are striking the perfect balance of analytics with smart baseball people,” he tweeted.
That is the general conclusion: the Yankees seem to believe that a balance between analytics and traditional scouting (the human element and eye) is the recipe for success.
Both Minaya and Sabean are star scouts and talent evaluators.
They have shown that through the years, and it might be what the Yankees need to get over the hump and return to the World Series.
Some of the very best teams in baseball at the moment, like the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Houston Astros, and the Atlanta Braves, have a knack for identifying top talent at all levels, not just MLB.
That’s why they can continually feed the big league team with quality players from their own farm.
The Yankees are good, but not great at this.
They want to change that and Minaya and Sabean will help.
More must-reads: