As Brian Cashman answered questions in regards to the Yankees’ monetary flexibility this offseason, one inquiry puzzled if he’d be prepared to supply a nine-figure deal for the best match.
“I would always do that,” Cashman mentioned with a smile in mid-November, well-aware that targets equivalent to Cody Bellinger and Tatsuya Imai will cross that threshold. “I’m good at spending money.”
That final line served as a joke, a nod to the Yankees’ penchant for having considered one of baseball’s highest payrolls all through the final supervisor’s tenure, which has spanned over 1 / 4 of a century. Nevertheless, followers reeling from an ALDS playoff exit have been fast to dispute Cashman’s not-so-serious self-assessment on social media, arguing that their staff wouldn’t be caught in a 16-year championship drought if the shot-caller used the mega-millions at his disposal in wiser style.
After all, exorbitant spending — the Yankees have had a high three aggressive steadiness tax payroll the previous 4 seasons and are poised to exceed $300 million for the third consecutive 12 months in 2026 — doesn’t assure titles.
The Dodgers have pushed again on that, securing two straight World Sequence with a high two payroll in 2024 and a serious league-leading $415.2 million payroll in 2025, per Cot’s Contracts. Nonetheless, Yankees proprietor Hal Steinbrenner insisted there’s a “weak correlation” relating to “spending the most money and winning a championship” after stating his staff had a $319 million price range in 2025.
“There was nothing low about my payroll and the Mets’ payroll,” Steinbrenner added over Zoom final week, ensuring to say that the Yankees’ crosstown rival missed the playoffs regardless of spending $338.2 million final season. “Look where we ended up.”
With Steinbrenner additionally calling the Yankees’ profitability into query and noting {that a} decrease payroll can be “ideal” — although unlikely — it will be affordable to assume he’s sad with the best way his cash has been used over time.
However when requested about that, he didn’t vocalize any points with Cashman’s allocation of funds.
“The intent was certainly there, and the research and the homework was certainly there. I can’t complain about that,” replied Steinbrenner, who blamed his gamers for the Yankees’ shortcomings in 2025. “You’re always looking hindsight, right? Hindsight is 20-20. Certainly, some things haven’t worked out. But it’s not for not doing the research and the homework and everything else.”
Steinbrenner went on to recommend that how gamers carry out within the postseason, a small pattern that he known as a “crapshoot,” can drastically alter the notion of whether or not cash was nicely spent. In spite of everything, followers — particularly these within the Bronx — understandably solely care in regards to the finish consequence.
To Steinbrenner’s level, the 2025 common season would inform you that the Yankees, who went 94-68 with roughly 50.6 fWAR, had a extra environment friendly payroll than the Dodgers, who completed 93-69 with roughly 49.8 fWAR.
The Bombers spent about $3.4 million per win and $6.3 million per fWAR, whereas Los Angeles spent about $4.46 million per win and $8.3 million per fWAR.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers, bankrolled by Guggenheim Baseball Administration and making a whole lot of tens of millions off its dominance of the Japanese market, have spent extra effectively than the Yankees (and Mets) during the last 5 years, as Wilytics lately detailed in a prolonged video breakdown.
Some dangerous contracts have contributed to the Yankees’ inefficiency, as they’ve lower a number of gamers regardless of owing them tens of millions of {dollars}. Latest examples embody DJ LeMahieu, Marcus Stroman, Josh Donaldson and, going again a bit additional, Jacoby Ellsbury and Alex Rodriguez.
LeMahieu, designated for task final summer time, is owed $15 million in 2026. That counts towards the membership’s CBT payroll, which is at present projected to be $278.1 million, per Cot’s.
The Yankees even have a number of ongoing, long-term, high-priced contracts, together with these belonging to Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Aaron Choose, who it ought to be famous is underpaid regardless of his team-high $40 million common annual wage.
Spending effectivity can apply to greater than the CBT payroll, which covers the 40-man roster.
Steinbrenner proudly famous that “nobody spends more money, I don’t believe, on player development, scouting [and] performance science.” That’s powerful to independently confirm given the vagueness of the declare, lack of public info and a variation in lingo utilized by totally different organizations. However even whether it is true, spending probably the most doesn’t imply spending the very best.
For instance, the Yankees have burned tens of millions of {dollars} on high-priced Latin American amateurs lately, prompting the departure of worldwide scouting director Donny Rowland.
Baseball America, in the meantime, reveals the Yankees have fluctuated in farm system rankings during the last 10 years, often cracking the highest 10 however falling beneath it extra continuously. Such variation is to be anticipated given their annual standing as contenders, win-now expectations that demand buying and selling well-regarded prospects, dear payrolls, lack of excessive draft picks and restricted worldwide pool cash, however the Dodgers have operated underneath comparable constraints.
They’ve maintained a high 10 farm system for the previous decade.
“They do have tremendous resources, and they’ve gotten the job done,” Steinbrenner mentioned, extra centered on what L.A.’s main league staff has achieved. “That’s the big thing. They’ve played to their potential when they needed to.”
The Yankees haven’t, and that’s going to matter to followers excess of subjective farm system rankings, {dollars} spent per WAR or the staff’s total payroll. Nobody is rooting for these issues.
However extra environment friendly spending would definitely assist the Yankees in the long term – and might be achievable if younger, cost-controlled gamers meet expectations – particularly with the game’s monetary parameters probably altering following the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Settlement subsequent offseason.
For now, nevertheless, the Yankees nonetheless want to handle their outfield, their pitching workers and their bench with the Winter Conferences approaching. That’s going to price cash, and never essentially an environment friendly quantity.
“We can talk before [Cashman] goes into the Winter Meetings about a range,” Steinbrenner mentioned when requested if he’s prepared to go over $300 million once more, “but because it’s a fluid situation, that range can go bye-bye in two seconds if there’s a deal that arises that I feel would be very beneficial to some area of need that we have. “It’s hard to give you a number.”
