Hal Steinbrenner/ New York Yankees Keep Door Open to Max Scherzer

Maybe it’s just the legacy left behind by his father talking, but while Hal Steinbrenner has publicly voiced his opinion along with other Yankees officials about committing financially to a pricey player such as Max Scherzer, the Boss Jr. hasn’t slammed the door on an expensive upgrade just yet either.

“Look, it’s not over till it’s over,” Steinbrenner told reporters Wednesday at the annual MLB Owners meeting in Arizona. “We still have a full month before spring training. We’re always going to continue to improve. I’m not putting a cap on it. We’ve certainly filled some holes that we had. We’ll keep going for the next few weeks.”

Still, the financially sound Steinbrenner said, the New York Yankees have their limits.

“There’s just a certain amount I’m going to go,” said Hal. “You all know my opinions about payroll, where you should be and where you really don’t need to be to win championships. You don’t need to have a $200 million payroll to win.” Non the less, with Scherzer or not, the Yankees will probably eclipse the $200 million mark in the 2015 season, with baseball-reference.com estimating them coming in at $209.6 million.

The outspoken New York Yankees team President Randy Levine and their chess-master General Manager Brian Cashman on the other hand have all but dismissed the likelihood of signing an expensive pitcher such as Scherzer. Cashman, in a TV appearance about a month ago went as far as saying: “I don’t think Yankee fans will be looking at Max Scherzer.”

According to multiple baseball insiders, Yankees club sources project the team payroll to float around the $206 million mark, and not increase by much.  Of course, the Yankees are still open to adding depth to their injury plagued starting rotation, but it remains to be seen if they’ll open the checkbooks to do so.  Many predict that the $5 million dollar commitment to infielder Stephen Drew will be the last significant payroll increase during the Yankees off-season.

Steinbrenner expressed optimism about the new look Yankees after they added a core of key young players to upgrade their defense and bullpen. He called the Yankees bullpen one of the best in baseball.

In addition, Steinbrenner had nothing but good things to say about Cashman’s work this winter, but also noted that their starting rotation remains vulnerable because of their lingering health issues. Maybe that’s why some executive around baseball have privately been predicting that the Yankees will make a late push for Scherzer. After all, they’re still the New York Yankees, which Steinbrenner was not shy about admitting to.

“We’re still the New York Yankees, all you guys know that,” Steinbrenner said. “We know what the fans expect. We know what the town expects. We’re not going to be afraid to spend money.”

I’ll leave it at that.