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Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner admits it’s ‘difficult’ to compete with Dodgers’ spending

Hal Steinbrenner Yankees Dodgers
The New York Yankees are No. 4 in MLB in payroll, nearly $30 million behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports)

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner admits it’s ‘difficult’ to compete with Dodgers’ spending

While the New York Mets signed arguably the biggest free agent on the market in Juan Soto to a $765 million mega contract, the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers have taken the offseason by storm.

The Dodgers have signed several impactful free agents to bolster an already-loaded roster, including Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernandez (re-sign), Tanner Scott and, most recently, Kirby Yates.

In total, the Dodgers have spent $491 million this offseason, according to Spotrac. Thus, their 2025 payroll has skyrocketed to a record $304 million, $nearly $25 million more than the Philadelphia Phillies, who are second in payroll at $299 million.

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner–yes, the owner of a team in baseball’s biggest market; a premier franchise in sports–pushed back on the Dodgers’ spending this offseason, saying it could be difficult to compete with.

“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they’re doing,” he said. “We’ll see if it pays off. They still have to have a season relatively injury free for it to work out for them, and it’s a long season, as you know, and once you get to the postseason, anything can happen. We’ve seen that time and time again. So we’ll see who’s there at the end and if they’re the ones.”

Well, for starters, the Dodgers were already “the ones” that beat you in last year’s World Series. But that’s also not the point.

The Dodgers did what every team should be doing: Find ways to improve, regardless of the dollar amount. Los Angeles wasn’t perfect last year, especially with its pitching staff. It obviously cobbled up enough to win the World Series, but had holes in its bullpen and rotation.

Sure, the Dodgers could have a better pitch than other teams because of the talent and market. But the free agents they have signed this year have largely signed market deals. Sometimes teams strike out, like the Yankees did with Soto or the Padres did with Sasaki. But the contracts the Dodgers are rewarding players is a bigger indictment on the 29 other teams than the Dodgers themselves, who are doing their best to add to an already great team. Nothing is guaranteed in baseball.

Adding good players, regardless of the CBT thresholds, should always be the goal. Most teams have budgets that they have to fulfill, but the amount of revenue teams pull in will increase–no matter the market–if they field a good team. Fans pay to watch good sports teams be good. If you don’t, they won’t.

After all, a wise man once said: Build it, and they will come. That’s exactly what the Dodgers have done, and they are champs because of it.

***

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