Yankee fans did not want to hear owner Hal Steinbrenner say it will be difficult to compete with spending habits of the World Series champion Dodgers. Then again this is a different era when the late George Steinbrenner would continue to spend as the Yankees were known as “The Evil Empire.”
But that was George and this is Hal. Different philosophy or era? The Dodgers are the new Evil Empire, spending more than $450 million this offseason, the Yankees with the third-highest luxury tax payroll under $303 million. In a different era, George would not care.
But the question is, are the Yankees giving in to the Dodgers? Was Hal saying, the Yankees are structured to win with a current roster going into spring training and losing Juan Soto to the crosstown Mets at 15-years and $765 million?
For sure, the Dodgers are structured to win back-to-back World Series championships as they keep adding and spending. Remember, though there’s no stopping the Dodgers, Yankees, or the Mets from spending because baseball is not structured with a salary cap. George never cared about a luxury tax based on his habits to open a checkbook and residuals that came with his ability to buy players on the market.
Again, though, this is Hal and not George, The Yankees have the ability to spend on the open market. A franchise with top prospects and ability to hit the trade market, an old fashioned way of wheeling and dealing that used to be a norm prior to free agency and this different era of big money on the table.
However, fans should not get the impression that Steinbrenner is surrendering to the Dodgers. The Yankees will be favorites to win the AL pennant this year, even without Soto but different without Aaron Judge hitting behind him in the lineup of manager Aaron Boone.
“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things they’re doing,” said Steinbrenner in an interview on the YES Network Tuesday evening that created a stir, more so with Yankees fans who believe his team has not spent enough to compete with the Dodgers.
Though the Yankees do spend. They were in the Soto sweepstakes till the end. Other teams, even with the ability to spend, have gone in another direction, including the Padres, one of three teams this offseason that failed to open the checkbook.
And despite the free wheeling spending of the Dodgers, Steinbrenner makes a valid point, He alluded to spending and winning a 162-game season.The postseason in baseball is a rough road to climb when factoring in unexpected injuries. There are hiccups encountered and even the great Yankees teams of the past can vouch how difficult it can be to reach the pinnacle of success in late October.
“They still have to have a season that’s relatively injury free for it to work out for them,” Steinbrenner said about the Dodgers. “It’s a long season as you know, and once you get to the postseason anything can happen. We’ve seen that time and time again. We’ll see who’s there at the end.”
So true, it counts at the end.
The Yankees have enough for now to win the Al East. Again, if injuries don’t intervene the Bronx will be buzzing again without Soto. One has to look at the Mets success of last year, their unexpected run in the postseason after a miserable start, improvement and resurgence in June. And who can forget the momentum in September of wild card teams, recently the Nationals World Series championship in 2019 in seven games over the Astros, and the Diamondbacks, a sixth seed sweeping the third-seeded NL Central Division champion Brewers, then the Dodgers in the NLDS before beating the Phillies in seven in the NLCS in 2023.
Here’s a glance at the luxury tax payroll among the top three teams:
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Dodgers – $390 million
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Phillies- $308 million
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Yankees- $303 million
So when Yankees fans see they are third, well that to them is unacceptable. They say more should have been done to overtake the Dodgers as baseball’s best, though the Yankees had that busy spending spree and used the old fashioned trade market. Not retaining Soto and seeing him going cross-town to the Mets still stings and will for a long time.
Steinbrenner would not use the tool as the most valuable franchise worth an estimated $7.55 billion, the Dodgers second at $5.45 billion, this according to Forbes and a point of interest to the Yankees fan base. Regardless, the Yankees always manage to find a way to play deep baseball in October with or without their once free spending habits of being tabbed as that Evil Empire under George.
But the admission from Steinbrenner that owners can’t financially compete with the Dodgers wealth is not acceptable to his fan base. They don’t want to see the Mets at $294 million exceeding the Yankees. Point is, the Yankees even without Soto are in to win.
“I think we have a better team right now than we did last year,” Steinbrenner said. Maybe not what George did. Then again this is a new era and October is sure to be another Yankees run.
Rich Mancuso: X (@Ring786) Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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