The Yankees have started trimming around the edges of their baseball operation, but the latest moves do not amount to the sweeping reset many fans were waiting for after another October flop.
Two veteran baseball men are on the way out. The people most closely tied to the club’s recent postseason failures are not.
That split tells the story of where New York is headed after Tampa Bay knocked it out in a three-game American League Division Series sweep. The Yankees still haven’t won a World Series since 2009, and the first wave of changes has done little to suggest a full overhaul of the decision-making structure.
Brian Cashman addressed the situation at MLB’s general managers meetings on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and gave a blunt explanation for why the organization let senior advisers Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya walk away.
“The Yankees did not renew the expiring contracts of senior advisers Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya because of financial pressure,” Cashman said in substance, adding, “As costs continue to stretch here, I had to make some tough decisions,”
Cashman said ownership had approved bringing both men in when they arrived in January 2023, but the club could no longer keep those jobs on the same terms. He also said the Yankees do not plan to replace them.
That matters. This was not a simple case of swapping out one pair of advisers for another. The positions themselves are being removed.
The financial backdrop helps explain why Cashman framed it that way. The Yankees carried a reported $308 million player payroll in 2026 and about $31 million in luxury-tax obligations. Put together, that’s roughly $339 million, though the tax is an added expense rather than part of payroll.
About $71.9 million in salary was set to come off the books, but roughly $26.4 million in raises for returning players would eat up more than a third of that. That leaves about $45.5 million before any other roster moves or accounting changes.
Cashman said Hal Steinbrenner gave him a budget for offseason business, though he did not reveal the number. The club is now working through trades and free-agent possibilities within that limit. There’s also the looming labor cloud: MLB’s current collective bargaining agreement expires in December, and no one knows yet what comes next with a possible salary cap or lockout.
What the Yankees are doing with their staff is more complicated than the front-office cuts. The advisory jobs for Sabean and Minaya are gone. The coaching staff is still in flux.
Cashman said the team is still sorting out its hitting coach situation. James Rowson, who held that role for three seasons, has already joined the SF Giants. Casey Dykes and Jake Hirst also have uncertain futures, and Cashman said the club is considering both internal and external options.
“We’re still working through our hitting coach situation,” Cashman said.
Some moves are already settled. Aaron Gershenfeld was promoted to major league field coordinator and catching coach after Tanner Swanson left for a bench-coach job in Seattle. Brad Ausmus also moved on, taking over as the Astros’ manager.
Matt Blake, Preston Claiborne, Desi Druschel, Dan Fiorito and Luis Rojas are expected back on Aaron Boone’s staff.
The Yankees have also lost several developmental voices to other organizations. Tanner Swanson is now Seattle’s bench coach.
Shelley Duncan, the 2025 International League Manager of the Year, joined Boston’s major league staff. Spencer Medick left his Triple-A pitching-coach job to become Houston’s director of pitching.
Those departures matter because replacing that kind of experience can cost money, and the Yankees have not tied those exits to budget cuts. Some of the openings may be filled internally, which would keep continuity in place. But continuity is not the same thing as replacing what walked out the door.
Sabean and Minaya brought serious baseball résumés with them. Sabean’s history with the Yankees includes the drafting of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada and the signing of Mariano Rivera.
He later ran the Giants’ baseball operation during their World Series runs in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Minaya previously led both the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets.
Their roles were meant to add seasoned perspective around Cashman, not to take over the top job. Cashman is set to return for a 30th season as general manager, and Boone is also coming back after another early playoff exit.
So far, the Yankees have reduced one front-office layer, hired Frank Herrmann for a player-evaluation and development integration role, and started sorting out the coaching vacancies. As of Nov. 11, Cashman’s explanation for the Sabean and Minaya departures is still the same: cost control, not a declared strategic shakeup.
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