Yankees lowering payroll would be ‘ideal,’ Hal Steinbrenner says

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner claimed it was too early in the offseason to determine his team’s payroll range for the 2026 season, but he’d prefer that the number drop from the $319 million he said New York spent on players in 2025.

“Would it be ideal if I went down [with the payroll]? Of course,” Steinbrenner said Monday on a video call with reporters. “But does that mean that’s going to happen? Of course not. We want to field a team we know could win a championship — or we believe could win a championship.”

The Yankees haven’t fielded a championship team for 16 straight seasons, a skid extended this year when they were eliminated by the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series.

Steinbrenner stressed the disappointing result was not on manager Aaron Boone, whom he labeled a “good manager at many of the things he has to do,” but on the players for not performing in October. He lamented New York’s midseason struggles — a pattern in recent years — that ultimately cost the Yankees the AL East title, a bye to the ALDS, and homefield advantage against the Blue Jays.

Steinbrenner noted mental mistakes, particularly baserunning blunders, were a problem and led to first-base coach Travis Chapman’s dismissal. He also challenged the notion that the Yankees made a profit in 2025, suggesting that they lost money after Forbes reported the franchise generated over $700 million in revenue this year.

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“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.”

As it stands, the Yankees are slated to carry a $278.1 million payroll, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That includes a projected $18.7 million projected Competitive Balance Tax for being more than $34.1 million over the $244 million CBT threshold.

The Yankees’ offseason transactions thus far include giving center fielder Trent Grisham the one-year, $22.05 million qualifying offer; signing veteran left-hander Ryan Yarbrough to a one-year, $2.5 million deal; and non-tendering five relievers, including right-handers Mark Leiter Jr. and Ian Hamilton.

Steinbrenner highlighted the Yankees still “need” to add another outfielder and to improve the bullpen. With Grisham’s decision, the Yankees are weighing their options in left field, which includes re-signing Cody Bellinger, one of the top free agents on the market. Steinbrenner declined to comment on the Yankees’ pursuit of Bellinger.

The relief corps could also potentially lose right-handers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver in free agency.

Filling those needs would likely inflate the Yankees’ payroll. Steinbrenner said he is open to all possibilities general manager Brian Cashman presents to him.

“We can talk before [Cashman] goes into [the] winter meetings about a range,” Steinbrenner said. “But because it’s a fluid situation, that range can go bye-bye in two seconds if there’s a deal that arises that I feel would be very beneficial to some area of need that we have.”

The Yankees, who have eclipsed the CBT threshold the past four seasons, finished with the third-highest CBT payroll in the majors in 2025 behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets.

The Dodgers, however, were in a different stratosphere: their spending — approximately $415 million, according to Cot’s — dwarfed their peers’ expenditures, amplifying calls for a salary cap from fans and owners with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, 2026.

The Dodgers became the first team since the Yankees in 2000 to win back-to-back World Series titles, but Steinbrenner said he believes there is a “weak correlation” between spending the most money and winning championships. He reiterated he would “consider supporting a cap only if it’s accompanied by a floor,” depending on the number.

“Look, there are groups of fans out there in different areas, including my hometown, here in Tampa, that — and I’ve addressed this before — come to spring training games thinking their team has little chance of making the playoffs,” Steinbrenner said. “Or at least little chance of making it deep into the playoffs. And those fans would argue that that’s not good for baseball as a whole. And, you know, it’s a valid argument. Whether it’s true or not, it’s a valid argument.”