Steinbrenner: 'Difficult for most of us owners' to spend like Dodgers

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner acknowledged that a large portion of MLB owners are having a hard time keeping up with the spending of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"It's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they're doing," Steinbrenner told YES Network's Meredith Marakovits on Tuesday. "We'll see if it pays off. They still have to have a season relatively injury free for it to work out for them, and it's a long season, as you know, and once you get to the postseason, anything can happen. We've seen that time and time again."

The Dodgers' luxury tax payroll is projected to top the majors at $382 million after signing Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Teoscar Hernández, Tanner Scott, Hyeseong Kim, Michael Conforto, and Blake Treinen this offseason, according to FanGraphs. The club also reportedly added All-Star reliever Kirby Yates to a one-year, $13-million deal Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are third overall at $303 million after inking Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jonathan Loáisiga to go along with trades for Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams. However, the club lost Juan Soto, who rejected its 16-year, $760-million offer to sign a 15-year, $765-million contract with the New York Mets.

Steinbrenner also admitted he still feels the sting from losing to the Dodgers in the World Series.

"Yes, because I know we're way better than what we showed in that last series," Steinbrenner said when asked if he has a chip on his shoulder heading into the 2025 season. "We're going to be better defensively this time around if we make it (to the Fall Classic). I believe if we make it we will get the job done, but we've got to play our best game when you're playing a team like the Dodgers. It's like playing the Kansas City Chiefs. You can't make mistakes."

The Yankees and Dodgers will meet once during the regular season when they begin a three-game series in L.A. on May 30.