This wasn’t a guarantee. But it also wasn’t a no.
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said he would “absolutely consider” surpassing the $210 luxury-tax threshold if it meant improving the team.
“This is not a question I get much, because we’re normally always over it,” Steinbrenner said over Zoom on Thursday, before the Yankees-Angels game was postponed due to inclement weather. “Although I have a small track record, I do have a track record. The answer to the question is any given year, there’s a number of reasons it makes sense to be under that threshold.
“If I feel we’re not good enough, we need another piece to be the championship caliber team that we want to be and we expect to be, then I’m gonna seriously consider doing whatever I need to do.”
The Yankees entered Thursday less than $3 million under the luxury tax, according to Cot’s Contracts, and that was before adding a few hundred thousand dollars of salary with the acquisition of center fielder Tim Locastro in a trade with the Diamondbacks. The 28-year-old outfielder, who has an anemic slash line of .178/.271/.220 in 118 at-bats, could allow Aaron Judge to return to his natural position in right field.
The Yankees, though, almost certainly need more help before the July 30 trade deadline if they are going to make the playoffs, let alone contend for a title. They enter this weekend’s Subway Series against the Mets just two games over .500, nine games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and 5 ¹/₂ behind the Rays for the second AL wild card.
The first time a team goes over the threshold, it has to pay a 20 percent tax on all overages. It rises to 30 percent the second season and 50 percent for a third straight season over. The penalty level is reset once a team gets under the threshold. Only the Dodgers are over the luxury tax, with an MLB-high of a whopping $262.1 million.
Steinbrenner pointed to 2014, when the Yankees went over the luxury tax to sign Masahiro Tanaka, as proof he would be willing to spend extra money in order to win.
“We were under the threshold at the beginning of the season, we were not good enough, I knew we weren’t good enough. And we went ahead and signed Tanaka and went right through the threshold,” he said. “I would absolutely consider — if a piece comes up that I think is a good piece and that baseball ops thinks is a good piece and something we should do — I would absolutely consider doing it.”
Perhaps landing Locastro, a speedy and athletic center fielder who at least will provide depth off the bench, is a sign the Yankees are planning to bolster the roster. Steinbrenner certainly seemed open to that possibility, even if it meant blowing a hole in his wallet.