New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner met with reporters on Thursday afternoon to address a number of topics, ranging from the possibility of making further additions ahead of their Opening Day date against the Houston Astros on March 28 to the likelihood of keeping new outfielder Juan Soto in town past his free-agent date.
Earlier this week, the Yankees were reported to be one of the three prospective suitors for left-hander Blake Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. Predictably, Steinbrenner wouldn't get into specifics about the Yankees' pursuit of Snell. He did note that he remains open to anything, even if the Yankees' luxury tax situation would make another expensive addition a costly one at year's end.
"I think we have a championship caliber team right now, but we haven't stopped looking to improve," Steinbrenner told reporters, including Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. "Given where we are payroll-wise, any addition to the club is going to be a costly one, but I'm still willing to consider anything that comes my way."
The Yankees are projected to have a luxury tax payroll number over $300 million by Baseball Prospectus' Cot's Contracts. In turn, that would result in a $50 million tax bill. If Snell were to sign for $15 million annually, the Yankees' luxury tax number would equal the Los Angeles Dodgers. For reference, the Dodgers are projected to pay nearly $70 million in tax fees. In other words, the Yankees would be forking over close to $400 million all together in order to field their roster.
Speaking of big deals, Steinbrenner did not tip his hand on whether or not the Yankees intend to make a serious attempt at keeping Soto. When he was asked if he would be willing to pay Soto more than what Aaron Judge received -- $360 million over nine years -- Steinbrenner told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch: "I guess that's an interesting question, but not one I've thought about.
"I'm not sure Judge would care if we got Juan Soto for many years to come. But the market is what the market is, and he's going to cost what he costs. We'll just have to wait and see."
The Yankees obtained Soto from the San Diego Padres in December as part of a seven-player trade that also netted outfielder Trent Grisham.
