Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner hints at lower payroll in ‘26

The New York Yankees last won the World Series 16 years ago, and while owner Hal Steinbrenner maintains his club is still "championship or bust," he would not mind spending a little less money on payroll next season.

Steinbrenner fielded questions from reporters during a video conference call Monday and bristled at the assumption that the Yankees, Major League Baseball's most valuable club, are turning an annual profit.

"I don't want to get into it, but that's not a fair statement or an accurate statement," Steinbrenner said. "Everybody wants to talk about revenues. They need to talk about our expenses, including the $100 million expense to the city of New York that we have to pay every Feb. 1, including the COVID year. It all starts to add up in a hurry.

"Nobody spends more money, I don't believe, on player development, scouting, performance science. These all start to add up. If you want to go look at the revenues, you got to somehow try to figure out the expense side as well. You might be surprised."

Steinbrenner said the Yankees' player payroll landed at $319 million for 2025. That got them a playoff berth and a loss to the division rival Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat Toronto in seven games to repeat as World Series champion, allocated more than $350 million to payroll, according to Spotrac.

"Would it be ideal if I went down (in payroll)? Of course," Steinbrenner said. "But does that mean that's going to happen? Of course not."

The Yankees spent top dollar in recent years to retain star outfielder and captain Aaron Judge and sign free agents like starting pitchers Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Max Fried. Yet there is a subset of the team's fan base that believes New York won't commit as much money as the Dodgers now do to chase titles.

Asked if the Yankees continue to be "championship or bust," Steinbrenner said, "I certainly thought it was last year. And now we begin the work of next year. But I absolutely went into the playoffs believing we could win a championship."

The Yankees have been linked to free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker and Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai this offseason. They could also pursue a reunion with former MVP Cody Bellinger, who batted .272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs in his first season with the Yankees and is entering free agency.

--Field Level Media