Hal Steinbrenner: Yankees above luxury tax, but ‘haven’t stopped looking to improve’

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said that while the club’s payroll is more than $300 million and over the highest luxury tax threshold, he is not ruling out making additional signings.

Steinbrenner told reporters at the Yanks’ spring training complex on Thursday that he believes they have a “championship-caliber team right now, but we haven’t stopped looking to improve. And we never will. We're able to do whatever we're able to do all the way up to the trade deadline, that's a long time from now.”

The owner said that he wants to "add to this year's roster if the opportunity arises because we are always gonna continue to try to improve. No team's perfect, right? There's no perfect team so there's always work to be done."

And for Steinbrenner, Opening Day will not be "pencils down" as they will continue "exploring possibilities" throughout the season if they "have a need, to fill it."

“I don’t think you can have enough pitching, whether it’s bullpen or starter,” he added. “We got a great infield, we got a great outfield, but you can never have enough pitching. I say that every year and I have the same answer every year. We’ll see what remains to be done or not, though.”

SNY's Andy Martino reported earlier this week that New York's front office is still having conversations about adding pitching.

Steinbrenner said that he would consider anything that general manager Brian Cashman presents to him. However, the owner would not get into specific free agents, including left-hander Blake Snell.

"I'm not going to get into free agents. I'm just going to tell you that we continue to look at a lot of different options,” he said. "Given where we are payroll-wise, any addition to the clubs going to be a costly one, but I'm still willing to consider anything that comes my way, anything Cash and his team brings my way. I'll leave it at that. But we are not done trying to improve this team."

The Yanks and the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner did hold conversations earlier this offseason, but the talks did not progress very far.

Martino reported this week that, "there has been no momentum between the sides or progress toward a deal, according to two league sources."

Last Friday, Cashman told reporters "We’re not pencils down by any means."

“If there's ways to improve the club, we can be open-minded to that," he said. "Because we know what the goal is. The goal is to be the last team standing."

The GM added: “I guess it’s always pitching. That’s the most important part. You can score as much as you want, but the pitching is always the key to the kingdom.”

As far as any signings or trades at the moment, Steinbrenner said: "I would not say there's anything that's close, no."

And when it comes to parting with prospects like Spencer Jones, Will Warren or Chase Hampton – all three of whom have been asked about in trade talks – he said they would be “very hesitant” to move them.

Steinbrenner also called last season’s 82-win season and a fourth-place finish in the AL East a "disaster" and "an embarrassment."

So far at spring training, he said he's observed a different mindset around the team at camp, adding, “They feel like they have something to prove to the fans 'cause they know they let the fans down. It was embarrassing. And it was embarrassing for everybody.’’