Dodgers' Kyle Tucker move could spur much-needed Yankees ownership change

For a long time, the New York Yankees were the league's premier financial behemoths. However, the days of fans outside of New York bemoaning that the Yankees are bad for baseball are long gone. If there was any doubt that the Los Angeles Dodgers have supplanted New York as the game's preeminent villain, it evaporated once Kyle Tucker chose LA.

It's not as if the Dodgers stole Tucker away from the Yankees that makes this so. The club was never in on the superstar outfielder, and any leaks of reported interest were simply ploys to leverage Cody Bellinger into accepting their offer.

Instead, this is about what the shockingly high AAV the Dodgers used to lure Tucker in means, and how the Yankees will struggle to compete.

Kyle Tucker signing with the Dodgers could force Hal Steinbrenner to consider a change in ownership structure

Mark Walter might be the frontman for Dodgers ownership (though Magic Johnson is the most recognizable name for most), but really, Los Angeles is held together by the corporate machine that is Guggenheim Investments, a group of billionaires and investors from which the Dodgers derive their financial might.

That sort of conglomerate has become more common in baseball ownership groups, with Canada's Rogers Communications serving as another prime example The corporation backs the Toronto Blue Jays and has deep pockets.

The family-owned teams have started to go by the wayside, and in some cases have struggled to keep up. The Yankees fall more into this category than the others, and even amongst the "independent" baseball owners, Hal Steinbrenner is far from having the fattest wallet.

As of last August, Steinbrenner doesn't rank in the top-12 richest owners in the game. He laments about $300 million payrolls, in part because his estimated $1.5 billion net worth pales in comparison to the $21.3 billion fortune Steve Cohen of the crosstown Mets boasts.

For a long time, it has been the value of the Yankees brand, not to mention their ownership stake in the YES Network, that has funded their lavish spending. But as more and more franchises take on money from outside investors and put that back into the product on the field, that may no longer be enough to compete in this rarified air.

The likelihood of Steinbrenner selling the team is nil. The Yankees have long been a cash cow, but, although he doesn't always treat the club this way, it is also a family heirloom for Steinbrenner.

What he could consider doing is selling off minority ownership stakes and bringing in outside investors in order to raise capital and continue to contend. As we've seen, the old way of doing business (like stretching out contracts to lower the AAV hit) that the Yankees have grown accustomed to is dying. In the days of deferred money and bloated, short-term deals, you need cash on hand now and in the future in order to keep up. Steinbrenner might not have that at his disposal unless he makes a change. Otherwise, the Evil Empire will become a relic of the past, if it hasn't already.