Hal Steinbrenner was not fond of answering questions about Major League Baseball's labor negotiations with the players' association, but he came as close as possible to answering a very important one.

When asked at the New York Yankees' postmortem presser if he was in favor of a salary cap, the team's owner said he "support[s]" the owners' proposals - all of which include a cap.

"I've said before - let me put it this way as a member of the labor policy committee - I helped craft, one of many, the proposals that we have given at the bargaining table. And I support those proposals in their entirety. That's absolutely the case, so that should answer your question," Steinbrenner told reporters.

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"What I will say is as a member of the labor policy committee is that we are working hard on our end. We are completely focused on the task ahead of us, on the negotiating. And I'm optimistic we're gonna get a deal done, and we''e gonna get a deal done that's favorable for both sides."

Players have adamantly opposed a salary cap and said it is non-negotiable. The owners are expected to lock out the players on Dec. 1, when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

The Yankees' $336 million payroll was the third-largest in baseball during the 2026 season, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers ($422 million) and New York Mets ($338 million).

Arguments skew both ways, but a constant has remained in that the highest payrolls continue to go up, while the lowest payrolls remain at a stall. The Marlins' payroll is actually roughly half of what it used to be in 2017, despite a sale of the team and everyone in the league making more money than ever. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have already committed more money in 2030 than 12 teams have this season.

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said that owners are simply "listening to our fans" regarding a salary cap and said it "defies human experience... to think that the bottom end of that [payroll] gap has the same opportunity to win the top end." It should be noted, though, that the National League-winning Milwaukee Brewers swept the Dodgers with the 11th-smallest payroll, and they will be facing the Tampa Bay Rays, who have the league's third-smallest payroll. They defeated the Cleveland Guardians, who rank 29th in payroll, in the American League Division Series.

Major League Baseball has never had a salary cap.

"Salary cap is the ultimate excuse not to compete. It's the ultimate excuse for an owner to say, ‘Gee, I would like to make the team better, but you know I can’t,'" interim MLBPA executive director Bruce Meyer said during the All-Star break. "Salary caps are bad for fans. Salary caps prevent teams from doing the things that they believe are in their interest to make the team better."

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"Every team in baseball can afford to compete, many are choosing not to," Meyer added. "To me, that's the biggest problem right now."

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Steinbrenner mentioned Wednesday that the Yankees' payroll in 2026 was the highest in franchise history.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he’s not worried about the safety of NFL players, coaches and fans in France, where the league will play a game on Sunday amid widespread rioting across the country. “Our embassy feels the game will be fine,” Rubio told OutKick and Fox News Digital. “We have no indication the…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he’s not worried about the safety of NFL players, coaches and fans in France, where the league will play a game on Sunday amid widespread rioting across the country. “Our embassy feels the game will be fine,” Rubio told OutKick and Fox News Digital. “We have no indication the…

Nearly $1 million worth of trading cards in more than 200 packages were stolen from a FedEx truck last week outside of Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA) in Santa Ana.

The cards, which Santa Ana police said were valued at approximately $963,000, were graded by PSA and were being shipped back to their owners.

Police said that sports and Pokémon cards were included in the heist.

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The thief had broken into the truck by breaking the lock. The cards were stolen while the FedEx driver was away from the vehicle.

Card collector and YouTuber SKY-B was a victim of the heist, saying he had 104 cards stolen, "many" of which are "irreplaceable."

"A hundred four cards which were either case hits, which are ultra rare, or they're 1-of-1s, meaning they're the only one in the world," the YouTuber said.

"We are aware of a theft involving a third-party shipping vehicle carrying PSA-graded items. We are working closely with law enforcement and the carrier as the investigation continues," Collectors said in a statement.

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Collectors said it has "deactivated the certificates for the stolen items and notified marketplace partners so they can be on the lookout for rare and serialized items."

"Our customer service team has contacted affected customers directly and is arranging compensation based on fair market value," Collectors said.

"We understand the impact this has on collectors involved, many of whom see these cards as far more than a financial asset. Our team is focused on supporting them. We take this incident seriously, and we will continue working with law enforcement to hold those responsible accountable."

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No arrests have been made, and none of the cards have been recovered.