Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole & Co. backed by Yankees top brass despite lacking behind Mets, Dodgers & Phillies with $275M payroll

The New York Yankees are being outspent by the New York Mets and LA Dodgers. The Philadelphia Phillies also have a more expensive roster this year.

That is something that would've been foreign to the Yankees of the early 2000s as they spent more than anyone, but those days are over.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said that the tax threshold isn't a concern to him. He's happy with the roster, especially the young, developing stars, specifically citing Luis Gil, Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells.

"Should I really need a $300 million-plus payroll to win a championship?" Steinbrenner said on Friday, via The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. "Does having a huge payroll really increase my chances that much of winning a championship? 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 among the highest in payroll. That's not going to change, and certainly didn't change this year. We're right there."

Steinbrenner knows what Yankees fans expect and he's not worried about a tax threshold in his attempt to meet those expectations. Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole, who make $40 million and $36 million next season (per Spotrac), are the biggest factors in the spending.

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Hal Steinbrenner doubles down on Yankees payroll take as other teams outspend

Despite coming up short in the World Series and losing out on Juan Soto, the New York Yankees haven't exactly shed payroll. They're at $275 million, and they're going to be over $300 million eventually, per Hal Steinbrenner.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner defended his spending (Imagn)

That's similar to last year, so despite losing out on a $765 million player, the Yankees have found ways to spend elsewhere.

"Our payroll now is almost identical to last year," Steinbrenner said. "I don't know what people have to calculate it correctly. You have to take into account what kind of injuries you're gonna have and make an assumption on that. So that tends to vary numbers somewhat. But we're right at 307, 308. I think then last year we were 310, so we're right there."

They spent the Soto money on Cody Bellinger, Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams, although two of those players were added in trades.