Yankees owner reveals the truth behind huge payroll spend

The New York Yankees made it to the World Series for the first time in 15 years last season, having finally built a team that matches the illustrious name.

However that effort has not been cheap and the Yankees payroll for 2025 is currently at around $308 million. They are one of the most valuable franchises in all of sport but owner Hal Steinbrenner has publicly questioned whether such a high payroll makes sense.

“Does having a huge payroll really increase my chances that much of winning the championship?” Steinbrenner said on Friday. “I’m not sure there’s a strong correlation there. Having said that, we’re the New York Yankees, we know what our fans expect. We’re always going to be one of the highest in payroll. That’s not going to change. And it certainly didn’t change this year.”

Steinbrenner did insist that he has not put any pressure on the front office to lower the wage bill ahead of the new season. The highest competitive balance tax threshold for 2025 is $301 million, meaning that the Yankees will likely be subject to a luxury tax.

But despite the owner’s misgivings, the evidence does show that payroll is a reasonably good indicator of future success. Of the last 30 teams to win the World Series, 21 of them were ranked in the top ten for Opening Day payroll. Of the last seven champions, three of them were in the top three for payroll spending.

The Yankees' high wage bill is strange considering that they actually lost a high earner over the offseason. The departure of Juan Soto was a major blow for the team’s on-field ambitions but it should have freed up a lot of salary space.

However the additions of Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams quickly ate up the remaining cash. As it stands, only the LA Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets - Soto’s new team - have a higher payroll than the Yankees.

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