Hal: $189 Million is the Target

From Wallace Matthews:

Hal Steinbrenner got accosted on his way to the elevator by the Yankees' beat crew, and confirmed what GM Brian Cashman has been saying all winter:

The Yankees are in the process of "streamlining'' the payroll, and the magic number is $189 million, which will be the new luxury-tax threshold for the 2014 season as established by the recently ratified CBA.

"I'm looking at is as a goal," Steinbrenner said, "and my goals are normally considered a requirement.''

The only good that can come out of this, besides the Steinbrenner family saving some extra dough, is that fans around the country might slow down a bit with the whole "the Yankees buy their championships" thing. That said, I never cared about those fans or their opinions in the first place.