Yankees' Owner Says Yankees' Payroll is Not Sustainable
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Hi friends-
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I’m not sure if you guys noticed, but the Yankees are good again.
After going 82-80 last season and missing the playoffs, Brian Cashman went out and got himself Juan Soto. This move has worked out better for the Yanks than when the Padres traded for Juan Soto in the summer of 2022. The (warranted!) what’s wrong with Juan Soto think pieces written this time last year seem quaint in retrospect. It’s pretty clear now that Soto stunk in San Diego because he was pretty upset that the Nationals leaked the contract offer they made to him before shipping him 3,000 miles to the highest bidder. (The Nats’ landed CJ Abrams, Mackenzie Gore, and James Wood in that trade, btw, so they did well).
Soto was open about how hurt his feelings were by the way everything went down, and how disorienting it was to feel unwanted by the only team he had ever played for. Also, let’s remember he was just 23 years old when he was sent to San Diego, and the human brain doesn’t even fully develop until people turn 25. I’m not dismissing Soto’s reaction as immaturity, I’m saying I probably would have been just as crushed at age 23 if the same thing happened to me, and my despondent mental and emotional state would have also interfered with my ability to hit a 99 mile per hour four-seamer with late life.
Anyway, Soto did rebound down the stretch last year to post very good numbers during his second season in San Diego. He finished sixth in MVP voting. But because he was due a record $31.5 million salary this season through arbitration, and the Padres were under orders to shed payroll after the team's beloved owner Peter Seidler died, they had to trade him away.
Soto has been awesome in the Bronx, with a .312 batting average and a .972 OPS. He’s also clubbed 13 homers, which is fifth-best in the league. Perhaps more critically, Soto has given the Yankees the bat they thought they were getting in Giancarlo Stanton when they traded for him 400 years ago. This matters because with Soto hitting in front of Aaron Judge, opposing pitchers now have to travel a swampy gauntlet with both alligators and snakes each time that lineup turns over. Soto is on-base so often that if Judge doesn’t lead the AL in RBI when the season is over I’m launching a federal investigation.
The Yankees are an AL-best 35-17, and the vibes in the Bronx are as high right now as they’ve been in some time. Second year shortstop Anthony Volpe has taken a step forward in his development, fifth starter Luis Gil has been a revelation, Stanton is finally healthy and hitting (!), and ace Gerrit Cole should return to the mound soon. This would have been the perfect time for Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner to praise the team and Soto, and he did just that, telling reporters waiting outside the league’s owners’ meetings in Manhattan on Wednesday that his team is playing “championship caliber” ball.
If you thought Steinbrenner would leave it at that and let Yankee fans continue to enjoy the team’s play without lumps in their throats and bowling balls in their bellies, the joke’s on you! For some reason, Steinbrenner felt the need to add this ominous little nugget of a quote:
“I’m gonna be honest, payrolls at the levels we’re at right now are simply not sustainable for us financially,” Steinbrenner said. “It wouldn’t be sustainable for the vast majority of ownership [groups], given the luxury tax we have to pay.”
The Yankees have a $302 million payroll this year, which is the highest in franchise history, and the second-highest in MLB after the Mets. “What I always say to you guys like a broken record: I don’t believe I should have to have a $300 million payroll to win a championship,” Steinbrenner said.
Sure. You shouldn’t have to spend $300 million to win a championship, and if money guaranteed rings then the Mets wouldn’t be 15 games back in the NL East on May 24th. But much like the Dodgers, the Yankees are obligated to field stars in a market that expects nothing less with fans who spend a ton of money supporting their favorite baseball team. Winning isn’t enough. They need superstars on Wheaties’ boxes to lead them to glory.
More than half of the 2024 Yankees’ payroll ($165 million) is being paid to five guys: Judge ($40 million), Cole ($36 million), Stanton ($32 million), Soto ($31 million) and Carlos Rodón ($27.8 million). When Soto becomes a free agent at the end of this season, his services will almost certainly force a bidding war between the Yankees and the Mets. He’s expected to command a long contract worth half a billion dollars, and it’s unclear if any team outside New York can realistically afford him. I’m sure the Yankees would love to sign Soto to an extension right now, but his agent Scott Boras famously steers his clients away from doing that, so here we are.
Do I think the Yankees are going to slash payroll next year? Absolutely not. They do have some salary coming off the books at the end of 2024: Gleyber Torres ($14.2 million), Anthony Rizzo ($17 million), Alex Verdugo ($8.7 million), and a handful of veteran relievers earning close to a combined $22 million might be gone.
Boras is doing that math, too, and probably has a powerpoint ready to go demonstrating why Soto is worth the $60 million the Yankees are paying all of those players they may part with. Steinbrenner is well-aware of this, which is why when he told reporters that the Yankees are uninterested in maintaining a $300 million payroll going forward, he was speaking to an audience of one.
If I’m Boras, I’m really, really hoping that Steve Cohen wants to really, really stick it to his crosstown rivals by signing Soto. Not because I care either way if my client goes to Queens or stays in the Bronx, but because teams are getting better at calling my bluff, as demonstrated by what happened with Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger this past off-season.
Should Soto lead the Yankees to their first championship in 15 years, I don’t see how there’s any world in which Steinbrenner lets him go. He may not want to continue to spend $300 million to field a team, but the alternative would be alienating a fanbase that becomes apoplectic if Soto leaves because the Yanks refuse to pay him—especially if he decamps to the Mets.
I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
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AROUND THE LEAGUE:
A minor league homer led to a brawl before the batter even rounded the bases.
The Phillies have had 18 starts go at least 7 innings so far this year. That’s more than eleven teams had in 2023. (Matt Gelb/ Philadelphia Inquirer)
The A’s Mason Miller somehow gave up 3 earned runs last night. Before that, batters were 2 for their last 46 with 33 strikeouts against him.
MLB attendance is up 2.3% so far this year over last year. (MLB)
The Cubs Michael Busch is playing at Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the first time tonight. He’s looking to become the first Busch or Bush to homer at Busch. (Sarah Langs/ MLB.com)
Everyone is ready for the Rays to call up super prospect Junior Caminero except the Rays. (Adam Berry/ MLB.com)
Luis Arraez recorded his eighth straight multi-hit game. If the Padres make the playoffs, I think we’ll look back on this May trade as the best one made by any team this season. (Alyson Footer/ MLB.com)
Robot umps are coming next season. (AP)
Shohei Ohtani has been such a good hitter this year that now people are wondering whether he should give up pitching altogether. (Bradford Doolittle/ ESPN)
Paul Skenes was excellent again in his third MLB start even though he was without his best stuff. (Alex Stumpf/ MLB.com)
Tokyo, San Juan, Houston and Miami were announced as the World Baseball Classic Cities for 2026. (MLB.com/ Michael Clair)
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I wonder if Hal Steinbrenner thought, "I'm much less hated than my father. What can I do to catch up to him?"
I believe you are required by law to point out that the Guardians traded Junior Caminero for a bag of magic beans.