It’s hard to find an important baseball number that is ignored by most fans, but I think I’ve got one for you: The New York Yankees’ current payroll comes to $303,322,047. That’s nine figures with two commas and no decimals. You might yawn at that number but, I assure you, there are some people in the Bronx who aren’t yawning.
That includes Hal Steinbrenner, who owns 70 percent of the team. It is the second highest payroll in major league baseball — about $2 million shy of what the New York Mets pay. It is more than three times as much as the $94,520,400 being paid by the Baltimore Orioles.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Yankees trail the Orioles in the race for the American League Eastern Division pennant. The people in the Yankees front office have noticed that, too. Here’s some other things they’ve noticed.
They’ve noticed that when the season ends the Yankees will be assessed a luxury tax that will be in the neighborhood of $60 million. The Orioles will pay no luxury tax. In fact, the Orioles will actually receive a portion of the money the Yankees pay out.
They’ve noticed that when the first round of the draft was conducted July 14, the Orioles had the 22nd pick and the Yankees had to go 26th. The Yankees’ 2023 won-loss record qualified them to select in the 16th position, but the size of their payroll dictated that they take a 10-spot penalty. This stuff is a little overwhelming, even to somebody named Steinbrenner.
At least it is to the Steinbr.