For Brian Cashman consigliere Brian Sabean, this World Series is a full-circle moment

When the Yankees announce their World Series roster, Brian Sabean’s fingerprints will be on it. General manager Brian Cashman on Wednesday called Sabean his “consigliere” and said he still leans on the person he began working with in The Bronx nearly four decades ago — including during a conversation the two had on Tuesday about the construction of the roster the Yankees are putting together. “As much as anybody in the sport, he understands what it takes to win,’’ Cashman said. For Sabean, 68, it’s been a long road back to the organization where he started his career in professional baseball in 1985 as a scout.He eventually headed the Yankees scouting department and was in charge of 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, as well as getting them through the minor leagues. But not long before that group started winning World Series titles, Sabean was part of a group that ended up leaving, as Cashman said, due to the “volatility” of the organization under George Steinbrenner’s stewardship. Sabean went on to engineer three World Series titles as GM of the Giants (2010, ’12 and ’14) before leaving following the 2022 season. That’s when Cashman hired him for another stint with the Yankees. “He’s one of the architects of lining ourselves up for that championship run we had in the 1990s and early 2000s,’’ Cashman said.

“Then he went on and built something spectacular not once, not twice, but three times in San Francisco.” His title is “executive advisor” to Cashman and he always has Cashman’s ear. “It’s been kind of surreal to be with the Yankees again and getting to this point,’’ Sabean said of being in the World Series again. “He’s one of the great baseball men of our generation,’’ Cashman said.“I always felt sorrow that he did not get the credit he so richly...