MLB insider eviscerates Hal Steinbrenner: ‘These are the freaking New York Yankees’

Yankees ownership took some shots on ESPN New York on Tuesday. Appearing on “The Michael Kay Show,” which is hosted by the team’s YES Network announcer Michael Kay, ESPN’s Jeff Passan harshly criticized the Yankees and their unwillingness to exceed the competitive balance tax (CBT). “And at the end of the day, like, Michael, these are the New York freaking Yankees,” Passan said, via Apple Podcasts. “If a luxury tax threshold is impeding them, that says more about where they are than it does the luxury tax itself.” The CBT has increasingly become an issue for Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner. As it stands, the Yankees are a fourth-time CBT payor and expected to pay north of $43 million in luxury tax, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Steinbrenner likely sees the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees’ AL East rival, and feels he’s overspending for virtually the same result. The Rays consistently have one of the lowest payrolls in MLB, yet still manage to be perennial playoff contenders. Since the Yankees last won the World Series in 2009, they have made it to the playoffs 11 times, and the Rays have made it eight times. Both teams have made the same number of World Series appearances since then: one. While it’s true that the Yankees try — and fail — to stay under the luxury tax threshold, they have also shown a willingness to spend on good players. They gave slugger Aaron Judge $360 million over nine years. That makes him the fourth-highest-paid player in the sport by average annual value ($40 million AAV). They were also willing to re-sign outfielder Juan Soto to a historic 16-year, $760 million contract. But the 26-year-old opted to take the Mets’ 15-year, $765 million deal instead. The Yankees struck out Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto too. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Manny Gómez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com.