If Hal Steinbrenner speaks, then New York Yankees fans will become irate. This is the law of the land after a 16-year drought, and it doesn’t help that Steinbrenner doesn’t make things easier for himself. If he’s not in hiding, he’s talking about a city tax bill, due every February 1st, like a bougie version of Bobby Bonilla day.
The Yankees will always have one of the top payrolls in the league, but fans don’t want to hear about a billion dollar organization’s expenses when the team has lagged behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in both spending and winning.
Oct 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner raises the American League Championship trophy after the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
When asked about that West Coast empire, Steinbrenner was honest about the difference between his team and the Dodgers, who are coming off back-to-back World Series championships.
“Of course it’s a concern,” Steinbrenner said, according to Chris Kirschner of the Athletic. “The (Dodgers) have tremendous resources, and they’ve gotten the job done. That’s the big thing. They’ve played to their potential when they needed to. They have overcome a lot of injuries this year. Again, they got healthy at the right time. I don’t know what next year is going to bring. But of course it’s always a concern any time I feel that one team is pulling away from the other 29, (or) selfishly, pulling away from me.”
Steinbrenner on Spending
Despite the Dodgers’ success, Steinbrenner still cites that you don’t need to spend big to win. Watching LA become the first team to win consecutive championships since his father’s Yanks in 1999 and 2000 is not enough of a sample size for him.
“If there’s a correlation between spending the most money and winning a championship, I still think it’s a weak correlation, sample size of data,” Steinbrenner said. “But (the Dodgers) earned every bit of it. … They really played up to their potential, especially those last two games. That has to happen. Your players have to play up to their potential when you’re playing a team as good as the Blue Jays, and you’re playing under that kind of pressure in the World Series. Hats off to them. It’s not easy to do twice, and they did it in dramatic fashion this time.”
Oct 31, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in game four to win the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The problem with Steinbrenner is not that he isn’t his father. It’s that comments like these are tone-deaf. Indeed, the Yankees are not the Dodgers, but he is the owner. If anybody has a say in fixing that, it’s probably him.
It does seem that the city bill is more important than getting a little more help for Aaron Judge.