New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner made one thing clear regarding his team’s chances of retaining Juan Soto in free agency: He has “no idea” how it will play out. It was a phrase uttered multiple times by the head of the Bronx Bombers on Wednesday at the owners’ meetings, though he eased some of the tensions surrounding the notion that he would be frugal this winter in hopes of improving his team’s payroll. “We’re in a better starting position than we were a year ago,” Steinbrenner said.
“There’s no doubt about that. Year after year..
. payroll is similar to this year and the luxury taxes, like others, are not sustainable and not feasible. That’s the case for the vast majority of owners and maybe all the owners year after year.
It doesn’t mean that I can’t do what I want to do. We’ve got the ability to sign any player that we would like to sign.” That certainly bodes well for the Yankees, who are expected to lock into an all-out battle with the crosstown rival Mets for Soto’s signature.
Initial expectations forecasted that the Mets and their owner Steve Cohen, valued at $16 billion, would be able to blow any Yankees offer out of the water. That still might be the case, but Steinbrenner’s comments at least suggest that there will be no penny-pinching. Granted, he does not have much of a choice when it comes to a player of Soto’s caliber.
The 26-year-old lefty is one of the elite offensive producers in the game and is on the cusp of a $60.