Hal Steinbrenner is more understated than his father, but Yankees' status is still a priority

What would George do?

Next July will mark 13 years since the death of the man still referred to as The Boss, but in the land of the Yankees, where legacy is stitched into the everyday, you’ll still occasionally hear that question ping-pong around The Great Hall.

Certainly, George would have done something about this championship drought already.

Certainly, George would have fired a few people (or 10).

And it’s likely safe to presume that Steinbrenner might have been…um, let’s say displeased …at waking up the morning of Aaron Judge’s news conference and learning that the billionaire down the way pulled a midnight coup by signing Carlos Correa. (The GIFs of a retaliating George Steinbrenner shooting hundred dollar bills out of a T-shirt cannon would have been nothing short of high art.)

But even if the Mets did end up stealing a lot of the headlines on one of the biggest days in Yankee history, there actually wasn’t too much of a reason to ask what George would have done on Wednesday. Not when Hal Steinbrenner was there at Yankee Stadium with a much-understated, but not wholly dissimilar, impression of dear old dad.

“All we can tell you is that we’re not done yet,” he said of the Yankees offseason moves.

Shortly after, the Yankees made their six-year, $162 million signing of lefthander Carlos Rodon official. Before that, Judge, signed to that nine-year, $360 million contract, was officially named captain – the 16th in franchise history and the first since Derek Jeter. The Yankees have a projected $272 million payroll, according to FanGraphs, but even if that's [far] second to the Mets, Steinbrenner provided some wiggle room there, too.

“I was joking with someone previously that 10 years ago, you’d always hear me say you shouldn’t have to have a $200 million payroll to win a championship,” he told reporters. “Well, I’ve modified that slightly to, you shouldn’t have to have a $300 million payroll to win a championship.”

There are good arguments that say wanton spending hurts the sport. And there are even better arguments that say cheap owners – the majority of them billionaires – hurt the sport even more. But from a local perspective, Steinbrenner and Cohen have a chance to introduce a true gilded age of New York baseball. Hal is too much of a Steinbrenner to be blown out of the water by the Flushing upstart, and Cohen is too invested and too rich to humbly submit to owning the Yankees’ little brother. 

Add to that, too, Steinbrenner's interest in legacy - Judge said that when he spoke to the owner, Steinbrenner waxed poetic about the importance of the captaincy, and on Wednesday, both Jeter and former captain Willie Randolph were on hand. It's clear that the Yankees' history, and their championship years, aren't ever far from Steinbrenner's mind. 

Understandably, though, Yankee fans are skeptical. The team has been more fiscally conservative and more resistant to change since the dynasty days, despite not winning a title since 2009. But after years of ownership, it does feel as if Steinbrenner has an invigorated interest in leaning into his family name. There were reports he was shaken after getting soundly booed by fans during Paul O’Neill’s jersey retirement last August. And general manager Brian Cashman - a smart man who likes his job and wants to make his boss happy - was quick to liken the son to the father Wednesday, reiterating that Steinbrenner was pivotal in closing the Judge deal.

The details support that: On Dec. 6, Cashman, like everyone else in baseball, saw a reputable tweet saying that Judge to the Giants was a done deal. After learning that wasn't the case, the GM reached out to Steinbrenner, in Italy at the time, who called Judge for a 3 a.m. conversation. “Do you want to be a Yankee?” Steinbrenner asked him, according to MLB.com. Judge said yes and Steinbrenner gave Judge the ninth year he was asking for. It was a decisive move, and one so reminiscent of George, you'd have to wonder if the threat of losing Judge to the Giants awakened some sort of recessive gene.

“It reminds me a lot of how Hal’s dad went about his business, too,” Cashman said Wednesday.

That's an interesting way to phrase it, isn't it? For years, we’ve heard “What would George do?” He’s been called The Boss and Manager George and even The Yankee Clipper. But though it feels like a long, impossible road, it's clear the younger Steinbrenner wouldn't mind having a formidable legacy of his own - and perhaps one that adds to George's many nicknames. 

Simply: Hal's dad. 

With Owen O'Brien

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.