Yankees Owner Firmly Addresses Dodgers' Spending: 'We'll See If It Pays Off'

Keeping up with the Dodgers.
New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner sits down for an interview with YES Network
New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner sits down for an interview with YES Network / Screengrab via @YESNetwork on X/Twitter

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner sat down to address the team's offseason, the future of manager Aaron Boone and the franchise's young stars in an interview with YES Network Tuesday. He also spoke to one of baseball's hottest topics: how do you keep up with the Los Angeles Dodgers?

The Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract in November and followed that up with a five-year, $74 million deal for outfielder Tommy Edman a few days later. The offseason spending didn't end there, though, with the defending World Series champions committing $445.5 million in guaranteed dollars this winter, according to The Athletic. They signed the coveted Japanese pitching prospect Roki Sasaki, then brought in top free agent reliever Tanner Scott on a four-year, $72 million contract a few days later.

L.A.'s rampant spending to stay competitive begs the question of how other MLB teams keep pace, even for the high-rolling Yankees. Steinbrenner acknowledged the Dodgers' shopping spree can't be reproduced, but a lot still needs to go right to bring home the Commissioner's Trophy after the World Series.

"Well, look, it's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that [the Dodgers are] doing," Steinbrenner said to Meredith Marakovits of YES Network via Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. "Now, 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."

Steinbrenner is optimistic about his own team, no matter the landscape, boldly claiming that the Yankees have a better team now than one season ago, even after Juan Soto chose to sign with the New York Mets. The Yankees signed Paul Goldschmit and traded for Cody Bellinger to help fill the offensive gap left by Soto's departure. They splurged themselves on free agent pitcher Max Fried, with an eight-year, $218 million deal.

Although this offseason is about keeping up with the Dodgers, Steinbrenner is optimistic for his Yankees in 2025.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.