Hal Steinbrenner’s comments on Yankees’ profits point to a larger issue
New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner during a press conference at Yankee Stadium. Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images
Over Thanksgiving week, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner provided fans with plenty of news to digest.
Among notable items that are circulating, four things stand out: his resolve to lower the payroll below $300 million, the insinuation that the Yankees are not a profitable ballclub, the assumption that the Los Angeles Dodgers’ astronomical payroll played no part in their dominance and his purported support for a salary cap.
When seen together, these four items seem to suggest a severe reluctance to spend. Steinbrenner made it clear he wants to come in under the luxury tax threshold. Interestingly, he called the correlation between spending and championships weak, alluding to his Yankees as well as the New York Mets as examples of teams with high payrolls and limited success.
However, this opens up a discussion about how said money was spent. The Mets notably dumped a record sum on signing Juan Soto, but did little elsewhere. But what about the Yankees? When asked if it was fair to say the Yankees turned a profit after engrossing over $700 million in revenue, Steinbrenner had this to say, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch:
“That’s not a fair statement or an accurate statement. 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 February 1, including the COVID year. So, 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.”
Altogether, the Yankees spent slightly under $305 million on players’ salaries in 2025. For a breakeven season, the Yankees would have needed to spend over $395 million elsewhere. Where did it all go?
Steinbrenner mentioned the $100 million expense to New York City. As for the bulk of their expenses, the Yankees owner pointed towards player development, scouting and performance science. This raises a more serious question about mismanagement.
The Yankees are overspending on failing analytics
If most of the money was spent on development, scouting and performance science, one could easily argue that the cost has outweighed the benefits. Despite having spent so much, these efforts have produced very little.
Over the years, the Yankees have seen more failures than success stories when developing major league talent. Promising players and top prospects like Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier, Deivi Garcia, Miguel Andujar, Domingo German, Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, Oswald Peraza and Estevan Florial, among many others, never panned out. The team also gave up on Carlos Narvaez and Agustin Ramirez in favor of Austin Wells, who underperformed the pair of rookie backstops this past season. Another catching prospect, Yankees 2018 first-round draft pick Anthony Seigler, who struggled during his time in the Yankees’ farm system as recently as last year, excelled with the Milwaukee Brewers in Triple-A this year.
Anthony Volpe, Will Warren, Luis Gil and Jasson Dominguez are four current works in progress. It might also be fair to say the torpedo bat craze the Yankees started has officially ended.
Of their recent triumphs, the Yankees boast Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler. Going further back, one might add Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge to the list; however, Judge’s swing was actually developed by famed hitting coach Richard Schenck, not the Yankees.
Spending on these efforts is by no means a waste; nonetheless, it’s clear the Yankees are grossly overspending for something that isn't even working. Whether it means an organizational shakeup or reallocation of funds to target proven major league talent, Steinbrenner’s approach needs to change.
Cricket Australia Furious At Star Batter After 'Piece Of S**t' Remark On Ashes Pitch, Demand Explanation
Australia batter Usman Khawaja had used a derogatory term to criticise the pitch at Perth for the first Ashes Test against England.
Veteran opener Usman Khawaja is set to give an explanation to Cricket Australia (CA) officials after his "a piece of s**t" remark on the Perth Stadium pitch during the first Ashes Test against England. As per SEN Cricket, CA officials were not satisfied with the Australian opener's comments, given that the match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, had rated the Perth Pitch as a "very good" surface on Thursday. At the Usman Khawaja Foundation event, the veteran cricketer criticised the Perth pitch for the number of wickets falling and for batters such as Steve Smith being hit by extra bounce.
At that event, Khawaja noted that it is not the first time that the Perth track had produced similar results on the opening day of a Test game.
"Nineteen wickets on the first day and about 20 people got hit, that's a great wicket, that seems real fair," he said as quoted by SEN Cricket.
"Steve Smith's by far the best cricketer I've ever played with, and he's missing the middle of his bat by a long way - he does not miss the middle of his bat. He's getting hit in the elbow," Khwaja added.
"Up and down (movement) is the hardest, sideways is a little bit easier, but up and down, your hands can't catch up. So, day one wicket at (Perth) is a piece of s**t, I'm happy to say that. It has been last year; it was this year," the Australian opener said.
Australia won the first Test by eight wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match Ashes Test series. Chasing down a tricky target of 205 runs, Australia opener Travis Head played a match-winning knock of 123 runs, guiding his side to a convincing win.
The second Test between Australia and England will be held at The Gabba in Brisbane, starting December 4. The Brisbane game will be a pink-ball Test.
