Add MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Fox Sports to the list of notable people who have criticized New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner for implying earlier this week that the club may be unable to sign All-Star outfielder Juan Soto to a lucrative contract before or after he hits free agency this fall.
“My takeaway was along the lines of an owner essentially crying poor who has the richest team,” Rosenthal remarked during an appearance on the “Foul Territory” program concerning Steinbrenner’s recent statements on Soto’s future, according to Sam Neumann of Awful Announcing. “That’s a hard swallow for a lot of people.”
Steinbrenner initially encouraged Yankees supporters last week when he announced on a podcast that he wanted Soto “here for the rest of his career.” More recently, however, Steinbrenner raised concerns when he stated that the club’s salary is “not sustainable” in the long run due to luxury tax penalties.
During an episode of ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” podcast, Buster Olney stated that it “wouldn’t surprise” at least one unnamed executive if Soto received a free agent offer worth about $550 million. Soto allegedly wants to reset the market and may allow agent Scott Boras to start a bidding war in which big-spending New York Mets owner Steve Cohen may outbid Steinbrenner.
In March, Mike Ozanian and Justin Teitelbaum of Forbes reported that the Yankees were “once again the most valuable team in baseball” and worth roughly $7.55 billion. As a result, people like Rosenthal aren’t buying whatever Steinbrenner was attempting to offer ahead of Memorial Day.
“I understand what Hal Steinbrenner is saying,” Rosenthal added. “You don’t want the Yankees to say they can’t sustain a payroll of [$350M or $400M].” Open your books and prove you can’t do it, because I don’t believe it for a second.”
One thing is certain at this point: Soto will not give the Yankees any kind of discount if Steinbrenner and Boras engage in summer contract negotiations. While supporters praised Steinbrenner for re-signing slugger and club leader Aaron Judge in December 2022, those same fans are unlikely to accept the Yankees losing Soto to another team only because of the luxury tax.
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