Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner sends bold message to fans about World Series goal

Hal Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, made news Thursday when he teased a YES Network podcast appearance and expressed his wish to make Juan Soto a lifetime pinstripe wearer.

With the Yankees off to an MLB-best 30-15 record following last season’s fiasco, Jack Curry of the “Yankees News & Views” podcast asked Steinbrenner what his message to fans is this season. He began by praising the offseason efforts, which included obtaining Soto and laying the groundwork for a potential long-term relationship.

“We had a busy offseason,” Steinbrenner explained. “We listened to a lot of people because last year was utterly unacceptable, completely disappointing, and we made a good amount of changes…. and we’ve also brought in some big-time players, and you know (general manager Brian) Cashman did an excellent job with the Soto deal. That was a huge deal.”

Then, Steinbrenner reminded fans that there is just one end objective, no matter how difficult it is.

“Every year, we do our best to put together a championship-caliber team. “It is not easy,” Steinbrenner stated. “The competitive balance in this game is undoubtedly more than it was 10-15-20 years ago. That’s fantastic for the industry, but it makes it difficult to go to the playoffs, as some teams were knocked out in the first round last year, which no one expected, but that’s the nature of the beast. All we can do is put together the best team we can, and my family is always dedicated to that.”

Fans are concerned since the Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009. Last season’s 82-80 record with no postseason berth was unacceptable to a fanbase that had seen 27 World Series. It also targeted Cashman, the architect of these squads. Was he the best person to lead it forward?

The early returns from an offseason of reflection and transformation have been encouraging. But there is a long way to go.