Steinbrenner: Current payroll levels ‘not sustainable’

Amid ongoing discussions regarding the price of a potential Juan Soto extension, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner tempered expectations for the team’s payroll moving forward.

“I’m gonna be honest: Payrolls at the levels we’re at right now are simply not sustainable for us financially,” he told Dan Martin of the New York Post.

“It wouldn’t be sustainable for the vast majority of ownership (groups), given the luxury tax we have to pay.”

The Yankees’ adjusted payroll total for this season sits at $305 million, according to Spotrac. That figure is more than $60 million over MLB’s Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold of $237 million for 2024.

MLB’s current CBT system punishes teams for exceeding the threshold on both an annual and incremental basis. Teams pay a 20% tax on all overages in their first year, 30% in their second consecutive year, and 50% in their third. Additional surcharges are imposed on overages exceeding $20 million, further increasing at $40 million and $60 million.

The Yankees have exceeded the allowable CBT threshold for three consecutive seasons but could reset the annual penalty by lowering payroll below the CBT threshold of $241 million in 2025.

“I don’t believe I should have a $300-million payroll to win a championship,” Steinbrenner added.

“I believe I need a good mix of veterans who are gonna make a lot more money, but, also, we’ve put a lot of money into our player development system in the last five-to-10 years.”

The club has $202 million worth of contracts already on the books for next season.

Steinbrenner irked by A’s, other low-spenders: It’s ‘not good for the game’

The New York Yankees’ Hal Steinbrenner says he’s open to other baseball owners’ consideration of proposing a salary cap for 2027, but only if small-market teams like the Oakland Athletics are subject to a payroll floor, too.

Major League Baseball owners are meeting in New York this week following renewed discussion of a potential salary cap and amid the possibility of the A’s relocating to Las Vegas. Oakland owner John Fisher is attempting to get $380 million in public funding from Nevada to construct a 30,000-seat ballpark in Las Vegas. The A’s began the day a big league-worst 18-50 and are averaging a big league-low 8,555 fans at Oakland Coliseum.

Players have long opposed any salary cap for fear it would curb overall spending on player contracts, and they would likely fight off a cap proposal through a work stoppage.

Steinbrenner’s support of a cap would depend on the figure, but he and the players agree over worries about small-market teams not investing enough in their major league rosters.

“Any time a team is putting out a product that’s not good for the industry as a whole, yes, I am absolutely concerned about that,” Steinbrenner said Tuesday at the start of three days of owners meetings. “I’ve always said that fans should not go to the first spring training game knowing that their team has no chance of making the playoffs. That’s just not good for the game. It’s not good for the industry.”

The Las Vegas stadium would have the smallest capacity in the major leagues and the A’s would move from the 10th-largest television market in the U.S. to the 40th, possibly putting the A’s in line to became a perennial revenue-sharing payee.

“It’s a very different market. It’s unique. There’s no doubt about it,” Steinbrenner said. “That would always be a concern. But let’s hear their case.”

The Yankees opened the season with a $275 million payroll, second only to the record $355 million of the Mets. Oakland was last at $58 million and Tampa Bay, which has the major leagues’ best record, was 27th at $75 million.

“I understand some markets struggle more than others. I live in Tampa, so I know what the Rays go through,” Steinbrenner said. “What really gets me going in a negative way is owners that aren’t putting money into the team when they could. And it’s happened in the past. It probably happens every year to a certain extent. That’s what a lot of the owners like me don’t like.”

Steinbrenner’s luxury tax payroll, based on average annual values of contracts and including benefits, is right around the $293 million fourth threshold that triggers the steepest penalties. He is willing to take on additional payroll if needed as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches.

“This industry took a lot of hits the last few years, COVID and all, the losses we’ve had were unbelievably significant,” Steinbrenner said. “The losses we’ve had the last few years, that most teams if not all teams have had, it’s just not sustainable. It’s just not. So it’s easy to say, let’s have a $400 million payroll, but there’s no way to increase revenues.”

On other topics, Steinbrenner said:

— Yankees’ play amid a 38-29 start that has them third in the AL East: “We got to start hitting. We’re putting way too much pressure on the pitchers. And there’s several of our veterans that need to step up.”

— Missing Aaron Judge, sidelined because of a toe injury: “It’s been a two-week sample size and it hasn’t been promising.”

— DJ LeMahieu, hitting .236 with 21 RBIs: “It is concerning because he’s striking out a lot, which is very unlike him.”

— Rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe, batting .186: “Pitchers have adjusted to him and now he’s going to have some adjustments to make himself. … I don’t think any of this is out of the ordinary. I told Anthony at the end of spring training, I said, ‘You were the starting shortstop of the New York Yankees. This isn’t a three-week trial. So you’re going to be that through the ups and through the potential downs. And there probably will be downs.’”

— General manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone: “End of the year, I’m going to reevaluate what we did, what we didn’t do and whose fault it is. That’s something I do every year.”

— A long-term deal for center fielder Harrison Bader: “If somebody comes to me and says, ‘Look, I really think we need to do this,’ yes, I will absolutely consider doing that. … It really isn’t something we do very often, but he’s a special player.”

— Last summer’s trade for Frankie Montas, who has mostly been hurt: “I would do it again. Montas clearly so far hasn’t worked out. But for what we gave up, a couple of minor league pitchers, I would do that again.”

— On how his father, George Steinbrenner, would have criticized underperforming players: “I know he would have … but I am not he.”

Steinbrenner: Cohen’s spending should be ‘looked at’

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is happy that New York is home to two great teams after the Mets went on a historic spending spree this offseason but also acknowledged that it needs to be examined.

“I think it’s something to be looked at,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday when asked about Mets owner Steve Cohen dishing out over $800 million in free agency, according to Ryan Chichester of WFAN. “Another thing I said in March, which I truly believe, is that every fan of every team, nobody should have to go into spring training thinking their team has no chance of making the playoffs.

“That’s just not good for the game. That’s why all the owners have worked on competitive balance the last 10 years, and why I think competitive balance is significantly better than it was 10 or 15 years ago.”

The Mets’ total payroll for the 2023 campaign currently stands at around half a billion dollars, with an unprecedented $111-million luxury-tax penalty after the stunning reported 12-year, $315-million agreement with Carlos Correa.

“I was joking with somebody previously that 10 years ago, you’d always hear me say that you shouldn’t have a $200-million payroll to win a championship,” Steinbrenner added. “Well, I’ve modified that slightly. So, you shouldn’t have to have a $300-million payroll to win a championship. As most teams don’t. The (Houston) Astros didn’t.”

The Yankees will likely have the second-highest payroll in baseball next season after spending almost $600 million on Aaron Judge, Carlos Rodon, Anthony Rizzo, and Tommy Kahnle.

Steinbrenner open to exceeding luxury tax amid Yankees’ struggles

The New York Yankees are struggling, but reinforcements might be on their way.

Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner said Thursday he is far from opposed to exceeding MLB’s luxury-tax threshold to help his ailing club, according to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.

“I would absolutely consider – if a piece comes up that I think is a good piece and baseball ops thinks is a good piece and something we should do – I would absolutely consider it,” he said.

The Yankees – one of the world’s richest sports franchises and the most valuable in MLB – had a surprisingly quiet offseason, opting to re-sign DJ LeMahieu on a six-year, $90-million contract while adding Jameson Taillon and Corey Kluber to the rotation at low cost. But LeMahieu has regressed, Taillon is enduring a rough season, and Kluber is out until at least August with a shoulder strain.

New York currently boasts the second-highest payroll in baseball at $201 million – $48 million lower than the top-ranked Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Spotrac. MLB’s competitive balance tax for 2021 kicks in at $210 million with increased surcharges at the $230-million and $250-million thresholds.

Despite their high payroll, the Yankees sit fourth in the AL East at 41-39 with a minus-2 run differential. They are 8 1/2 games back of the division-leading Boston Red Sox.

Yankees’ Steinbrenner urges MLB to move on from sign-stealing scandal

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is looking to move past the sign-stealing scandal that rocked baseball this offseason and is urging Major League Baseball to do the same.

“When (Rob Manfred’s) report came out, I was (as) upset as anyone,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday, according to Ken Davidoff of The New York Post. “Clearly there were direct implications to my organization, our team, our 2017 team.

“But at some point, I think we all, for the sake of the game and the good of the game, need to move on. Everyone needs to make that decision themselves as to when that point is. Me, standing here on February 5, I am moving forward, looking forward, up the hill that is the 2020 season. That’s my focus right now.”

The league released a report in January that found the Houston Astros had illegally stolen other teams’ signs electronically throughout the 2017 season and postseason. The Astros eliminated the Yankees from playoff contention that year.

The Astros subsequently lost draft picks in addition to the one-year suspensions given to general manager Jeff Luhnow and skipper AJ Hinch this offseason. They were both ultimately fired from their positions by Astros owner Jim Crane. No players were punished for their role in the scheme.

An investigation into the Boston Red Sox remains ongoing. The Red Sox hired former Astros bench coach Alex Cora as their manager in 2018, the year after Cora helped orchestrate the sign-stealing system with Houston. He and the Red Sox agreed to part ways in the wake of the scandal.

Steinbrenner: Even winning World Series may not have saved Girardi’s job

The New York Yankees outperformed expectations in 2017, coming within a victory of making the World Series. They decided to part ways with longtime manager Joe Girardi anyway.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said it was a tough decision for general manager Brian Cashman, but things wouldn’t necessarily have been different if the team had won the World Series, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

“I’m sure there would have been more pressure,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday. “It would have been maybe a more difficult decision to make. But I would have made it because I felt like that was best for the organization moving forward.”

In 10 seasons as Yankees skipper, Girardi went 910-710 in the regular season. He won the World Series with the club in 2009.

General manager Brian Cashman said in early November that Girardi had difficulty communicating with his players.

“This was not a decision we took lightly, and not a decision that had to do with two-three weeks. It had to do with two-three years, and observing things and hearing things,” Steinbrenner said, noting that he agreed with Cashman’s recommendation to bring in a new manager. “We felt it was time to move in a different direction.”

The Yankees remain the only team without a manager in place for 2018.

Steinbrenner noncommittal on bringing back Girardi, Cashman

The New York Yankees made it within a win of reaching the World Series only to come up short against the Houston Astros. That could presumably be viewed as a good season.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner certainly thinks so, telling Joel Sherman of the New York Post that the 2017 campaign can be seen as a success despite not winning the big one.

“When you get to Game 7 of the ALCS, a number of people have done well and contributed,” Steinbrenner said. “It can be argued everyone did a good job this year.”

Despite that vote of confidence, Steinbrenner wouldn’t commit to the idea of re-signing manager Joe Girardi or general manager Brian Cashman, both of whose contracts are about to expire. Nearly reaching the World Series doesn’t guarantee anything.

“It might, it might not,” Steinbrenner said. “I really want to get into everyone’s performance over the last two, three, four years. The same process I always undertake at the end of the year. I am not going to get caught up in the moment. We are all proud, but we have to look at the overall pieces, not just one, two, three weeks. We are all very proud. It was a group effort. There were a lot of good things.”

For Girardi, there was speculation that he wouldn’t be brought back after he failed to challenge a hit-by-pitch call in the ALDS against the Cleveland Indians.

In Cashman’s favor, the team found success without dealing from its cache of young talent, something that isn’t lost on Steinbrenner.

“I am glad we stayed the course,” Steinbrenner said. “I am glad we didn’t trade young guys we believed in the past few Julys for veterans, when everyone was asking for the Severinos and the Sanchezes and the Birds and Judges. … It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t quick. But we progressed quite well.”

Torre confident Jeter will thrive as Marlins owner: ‘He never shirks responsibility’

 

CHICAGO (AP) Derek Jeter won five World Series during a 20-year run with the New York Yankees. He piled up 3,465 hits and made the All-Star team 14 times while becoming one of baseball’s biggest stars.

Will that success continue in the front office of the Miami Marlins? Stay tuned.

Jeter is a limited partner in an ownership group led by venture capitalist Bruce Sherman that has a $1.2 billion agreement in place to buy the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria. Sherman met with the MLB ownership committee at the owners’ meetings on Wednesday, and the deal could be completed by the end of the season.

It’s a long road to the finish line, but the 43-year-old Jeter would take over Miami’s business and baseball operations if the transaction is approved. The Marlins have finished under .500 every year since 2010, something that never happened to Jeter while he was wearing pinstripes.

”I had him for 12 years and he’s smart,” former Yankees manager Joe Torre said. ”He’s got a feel for things. And he never was impressed with himself, you know? He was very secure with who he was. His first year, he was 21 years old. By August or September, the veterans were looking for him to do something. He never shirks responsibility. He’s a tough kid, a great upbringing.”

Torre was on the bench for four of Jeter’s five championships, including his World Series MVP performance in 2000. While the potential position with the Marlins is a completely new challenge for the shortstop, Torre thinks he has the skills to pull it off.

”He’s pretty well put together,” said Torre, now an MLB executive. ”I don’t think he’s going into this thing blind. He’s pretty observant, came up in a tough organization in the city of New York. He’s been tested pretty much as far as consistently having to be responsible.”

Asked why he thinks Jeter would be successful with the Marlins, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner responded: ”Because that’s all he’s done in his career.”

”That organization has some challenges, but he’s been through a lot,” Steinbrenner continued. ”As far as baseball operations, I think he’ll get the job done.”

Jeter made his major league debut in 1995. He had his No. 2 retired by the Yankees in May and a plaque was dedicated in his honor in Monument Park.

He spent his entire career in New York, and Steinbrenner admitted he is still getting used to the idea of Jeter working for another organization.

”I had a town hall with 100 season-ticket holders in the media room at Yankee Stadium a couple weeks ago,” said Steinbrenner, the son of former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. ”They asked and I said it’s going to be a surreal experience in not a totally positive way to see him in different colors. I think my dad would feel the same way.”

The Jeter-Sherman group has more than 10 entities, including NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. At least 75 percent of the major league clubs must approve the sale, and Marlins president David Samson said they are hopeful the owners will vote the third week of September.

”Once the vote is approved, then you can close any time after that and we’d be looking toward closing a few days after an approval and look for them to take over as of the first day of the offseason,” said Samson, who could stay with the Marlins in some capacity after the deal is completed.

Jeter is not traveling to Chicago for the ownership meetings. His wife, Hannah, is expecting their first child. But Samson said he has been an integral part of the process.

”He is incredibly focused and equipped to do this,” he said. ”Many people say they want to do something, but don’t have the tools to do it. He’s the type of guy who only wants something that he knows he has the tools to do, and he’s exhibited that through the negotiation of the deal. He was very involved, understanding of all the different provisions and the complexities of a transaction like this, understanding of what he wants to do in terms of operating a franchise.”

Steinbrenner: Yankees will be active in free agency

Even though the New York Yankees made a big splash in free agency by signing Aroldis Chapman in the offseason, the franchise has been quieter in recent years in terms of luring new players to the Bronx. Those days may be over, though, as soon next season.

“We do have a significant amount of money coming off this year,” Hal Steinbrenner told reporters Wednesday, via the Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond.

“As we always do, we’ll put it back into the club. We will be active in the free-agent market I can assure you – to what degree and in what areas remains to be seen.”

The biggest savings will come when pitchers CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda become free agents following the 2017 season, as they’re earning $25 million and $7.4 million, respectively. An additional $22 million could come off the books if Masahiro Tanaka elects to opt out of his contract. Otherwise, Tanaka isn’t a free agent until after 2020.

In addition to the team’s current players, the Yankees are paying Alex Rodriguez $21 million in 2017, and not a cent after.

With Rodriguez off the books, combined with the free agents who are likely departing – including Matt Holliday‘s $13 million – the Yankees are set to clear up to $98 million if Tanaka does opt out. Some of that money will be distributed among arbitration-eligible players, but it’s still a significant amount to be potentially freed up.

Not that the Yankees have ever lived lean. Even now, New York has the second-highest payroll in baseball. With three-fifths of the team’s rotation potentially hitting free agency, however, the Yankees could be on the lookout for fresh talent.