Steinbrenner addresses Yanks' hot topics at Owners Meetings

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch's Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The image at the far end of Yankee Stadium’s first-base dugout was instantly poignant. Juan Soto clutched a bat, ballcap and glove in his left hand, placing his right hand across his heart. He looked skyward, expressing thanks for what the star outfielder would moments later say had been a “really special” year wearing pinstripes.

Then Soto was gone, out the door into the great unknown of free agency. The organization has every intention of ensuring that moment after Game 5 of the World Series will depict the beginning of a long story, not the conclusion of one, which is why the Yankees’ most essential decision-makers traveled to express their interest to Soto and agent Scott Boras earlier this week in Newport Beach, Calif.

• Juan Soto free agency rumors

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday at the Owners Meetings in Manhattan, N.Y., Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner described a “good meeting” that included “a very honest, back-and-forth dialogue” with Soto and Boras. Steinbrenner said he understands why the fans want Soto back so desperately; the team does, too.

Will their mission be successful? Steinbrenner declined to speculate, replying: “No idea. We’ll be in the mix. I’ll leave it at that.” Steinbrenner touched upon numerous other topics of interest during the group interview session, which took place in the lobby of Major League Baseball’s offices on Sixth Avenue.

Steinbrenner remarked, "I don’t think you can ever have enough pitching,” noting that the team would “take a deep dive” into the starting rotation and the bullpen. First base, second base and left field are also areas of need. Since the World Series, the organization has been busy evaluating every free agent in the marketplace.

“We do have other things to add, whether that’s via a free agent or whether that’s via a trade,” he said. “We’ve got some things we need to improve. Every club does.”

While Steinbrenner has said that he does not believe a repeat of last year’s payroll is sustainable, he said that he does not have a set payroll for 2025, adding that he told general manager Brian Cashman: “Just have your people [bring] every possibility out there. I want it coming my way, and we’ll just keep talking.”

World Series reaction

Steinbrenner said that “it still stings” to think about the Yankees’ loss to the Dodgers in the World Series, their first appearance in the Fall Classic since 2009.

“It’s interesting, when you’re that close and you don’t get there, it stays with you for a while,” Steinbrenner said. “All of us feel the same way. We’re just going to have to get right back at it in March and get there again, and get the job done next year.”

Steinbrenner said he disagreed with the criticism that followed the loss, suggesting that the Yankees lack fundamentals on the basepaths and defensively.

“Listen, we did not play a clean World Series. I think we all know that,” he said. “But those fundamentals got us to the World Series. Our play, for the most part, we saw during the course of the year. That’s why we won a pennant for the first time in 15 years. No doubt, in the World Series, they just played better than us. Period.”

Rays at Steinbrenner Field
With Tropicana Field unplayable due to hurricane damage, the Rays will become the Yankees’ tenants for the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., with the Yankees receiving $15 million in the transaction.

Steinbrenner said leasing the facility was “the right thing to do for their fan base, many of whom are my neighbors and friends that live in Tampa.” Steinbrenner said that the challenges will come in logistics, such as ensuring that vendors have enough food and beverages for long homestands and adding storage.

The visitors’ clubhouse will be modified at the responsibility of the Rays, and lights will be added to an adjacent field, where the now-displaced Single-A Tampa Tarpons will play for a season.

Extensions on deck for Boone, Cole?

Steinbrenner said that “step one” of the offseason was exercising manager Aaron Boone’s contractual option for 2025, and that he plans to speak with Cashman soon concerning a possible extension for Boone. Said Steinbrenner: “There’s no huge rush to it, but I will have those discussions as to what we should do next.”

As for Gerrit Cole, Steinbrenner said that there were “a number of factors involved” after Cole exercised his opt-out on Nov. 3, acknowledging: “I wasn’t in a position where I was comfortable going to a fifth year [to extend Cole’s contract through 2029].

“… But let me just say, that doesn’t reflect in any way, shape or form what we think of Gerrit. We want Gerrit to be a Yankee for life. I believe he wants to be a Yankee for life. And adding one more year or not adding one more year should have no meaning when it comes to that.”