Steinbrenner: Cohen's spending should be 'looked at'

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is happy that New York is home to two great teams after the Mets went on a historic spending spree this offseason but also acknowledged that it needs to be examined.

"I think it's something to be looked at," Steinbrenner said Wednesday when asked about Mets owner Steve Cohen dishing out over $800 million in free agency, according to Ryan Chichester of WFAN. "Another thing I said in March, which I truly believe, is that every fan of every team, nobody should have to go into spring training thinking their team has no chance of making the playoffs.

"That's just not good for the game. That's why all the owners have worked on competitive balance the last 10 years, and why I think competitive balance is significantly better than it was 10 or 15 years ago."

The Mets' total payroll for the 2023 campaign currently stands at around half a billion dollars, with an unprecedented $111-million luxury-tax penalty after the stunning reported 12-year, $315-million agreement with Carlos Correa.

"I was joking with somebody previously that 10 years ago, you'd always hear me say that you shouldn't have a $200-million payroll to win a championship," Steinbrenner added. "Well, I've modified that slightly. So, you shouldn't have to have a $300-million payroll to win a championship. As most teams don't. The (Houston) Astros didn't."

The Yankees will likely have the second-highest payroll in baseball next season after spending almost $600 million on Aaron Judge, Carlos Rodon, Anthony Rizzo, and Tommy Kahnle.