ORLANDO, Fla. _ It's still unlikely that the Yankees will sign Manny Machado or Bryce Harper. But the man who signs the checks said he isn't ruling it out only because he doesn't rule anything out until he has to.
Hal Steinbrenner, speaking on Thursday at the owners' meetings at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, said if general manager Brian Cashman comes to him with a proposal to add a big-ticket player, he would listen.
Manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week that he thought the roster was done for 2019. Maybe not, Steinbrenner said.
"I don't think it's ever done," Steinbrenner said. "Look, if somebody comes _ I haven't changed _ I mean if somebody comes to me with a suggestion or a proposal, I'm going to seriously consider it right up until Opening Day or after. That's part of my leave-no-stone-unturned (policy), right? But I'm excited about the roster. I think we've definitely got a better club Opening Day than we did Opening Day last year, particularly in pitching, which was my biggest area of concern."
Machado and Harper won't help the Yankees in the pitching department. But since both talented, young megastars are still on the market with spring training beginning next week means the Yankees will be asked about them until they sign elsewhere _ or until the Yankees swoop in with an unexpected offer.
Asked if he would be surprised if the Yankees made another major expenditure, Steinbrenner said: "I wouldn't be surprised because these guys come to me all the time with stuff. I can't tell you if 17 days from now, they come with some kind of proposal that I say no or I say yes. I just can't tell you that right here on February whatever it is."
So what are Yankee fans to think?
"Fans should keep an open mind that I'm never done until I'm done, and that's not usually until Opening Day," Steinbrenner said. "Proposals come to me every day with these guys, between the analytics guys and the pro scouting guys, and I'm going to consider every single one of them. But I have to look at the big picture and it is my responsibility that my family expects and my partners expect not just to look at the present, but to look at the future, too. Three, four, five years from now, we've got a lot of homegrown kids that we love, our fans love, that are going to be coming up for free agency and that's something I've got to keep in mind as well. This is why I take a long time and aggravate some people in my decision-making. But if I've got the time I'm going to take it and I'm going to use it. I've got to think about everything. I just see that as my job. Present and future and whatever's in between."
Aaron Judge made headlines earlier this week when he made an off-hand comment about being willing to change positions to make room for Harper. Steinbrenner said he heard about the comment from Cashman.
"I just think it's a testament to the player he's talking about," Steinbrenner said of Harper. "He's a tremendous player."
Steinbrenner, the Yankees' managing general partner, was unavailable after the death of his mother when Cashman, Boone and team president Randy Levine met with Machado and his wife and representatives at Yankee Stadium in late December.
"Everybody thought he was great," Steinbrenner said. "Very down-to-earth, intelligent. Everybody loved his wife. She was great. My people have been around long enough that I have implicit trust in them and when Cashman and Randy tell me he's a very good kid, then I'm going to believe them."
Steinbrenner brushed aside the idea that the Yankees aren't spending enough money to improve last season's 100-win team that lost to the eventual World Series champion Red Sox in a four-game Division Series. He said he's aware that criticism is out there, but he rejects it.
"If there's a narrative that we're not spending money and being cheap, it's just false," he said. "I mean, we're well above $200 million (in payroll) _ we're at $220 (million) right now _ and we're well above where we were last year. We did everything we wanted to do to really improve, again, the pitching, because that's where I wanted improvement because as far as I'm concerned pitching was a big problem in the Division Series, more so than anything else."
