Hal Steinbrenner should hold Brian Cashman accountable for Yankees luxury tax figure

The luxury tax is a complex calculation. While we have approximations from resources like Cot's Contracts, Spotrac, and FanGraph's Roster Resource, the final tallies from the league office take a while to compile. Little things matter, such as promotions, prorated salaries, trades, and so on. The final count is in for the 2025 New York Yankees, and the results aren't pretty.

The Yankees were one of nine teams to exceed the luxury tax in 2025. With a final payroll of $320 million, the club has a tax bill of $61.8 million, due to the league office on January 21. Due to the Yankees' status as a repeat offender, exceeding the tax at minimum for three straight years, they were subjected to the highest escalator fees. No wonder Hal Steinbrenner's complaining about profits.

The penalties extend beyond the monetary, however. By exceeding $281 million, the third tier of penalization, the club will have its top draft pick knocked down 10 spots, falling somewhere between picks 35 and 40. They'll also be subjected to the highest penalties for signing a free agent that was given a qualifying offer, losing their second and fifth round picks, plus $1 million from their 2027 international amateur free agent bonus pool.

Of course, in order to face that last penalty, the Yankees would have to sign a free agent who wasn't already a member of the 2025 squad, something they seem unwilling to do thus far in the winter.

All of this begs the question: Will Hal Steinbrenner hold Brian Cashman accountable for this squandering of resources? Or will things remain status quo in the Bronx?

Hal Steinbrenner should take Brian Cashman to task for the Yankees' pitiful return on investment and stiff luxury tax penalties

At a certain point, you really have to wonder what the Yankees are doing. The team refused to fill third base last offseason, waiting until the performance at the position had become so untenable that they had to make a panic trade for Ryan McMahon, taking on $4.5 million in salary in 2025, and $32 million between 2026 and 2027.

If you're going to have that kind of money added to your books for a player you yourself deem so imperfect that he needs a platoon partner, the question becomes, why didn't you address the position earlier when the options were more flush, and you didn't need to part with prospects in addition to the cash?

Cashman has long tried ineffective methods to manipulate the luxury tax, which ultimately backfire and handcuff the team moving forward. His go-to trick is extending contracts past their expiration point, lowering the AAV and the hit against the tax number.

That's how you end up paying Aaron Hicks $10 million a year, including in 2025, despite his last game in a Yankee uniform coming on May 19, 2023 (and he's still owed a $1 million buyout for 2026). That's how you have DJ Lemahieu counting $15 million towards the 2026 luxury tax figure while no longer playing for the team.

Other teams have figured out how to manipulate the luxury tax via deferred money, yet Cashman insists on these longer-than-necessary contracts that only serve to bite the team down the road.

What you're left with is a club that's paralyzed by the fear of wasting money while letting the mistakes of the past cause present-day waste. In turn, that prevents Cashman from effectively using his immense resources to put a productive team on the field.

Hal is much more hands-off than his father was at times, and in some ways that's a good thing, but he can no longer let Cashman's inefficiency squander resources while putting an inferior product on the field. Something needs to be done to rectify this situation, because the inaction, ineffectiveness, and handwringing about profits are trying the patience of a fanbase that has waited far too long for a championship.