The post Yankees AL East Foes Improve As Red Sox, Blue Jays Add Sonny Gray And Dylan Cease appeared com. San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease celebrates after the third out during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Copyright During a roughly 25-minute video conference with the media Monday, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner conceded it would be ideal if the Yankees could find a way to lower their payroll while acknowledging the reduction might not happen. “Would it be ideal if I went down (with our payroll)? Of course,” Steinbrenner said Monday. “But does that mean that’s going to happen? Of course not. We want to field a team we know we believe could win a championship. “It just hasn’t changed which is why payrolls have gone up probably every year. It doesn’t mean they won’t go slightly down one year and then up the year after that. It all depends on what’s out there and what the possibilities are and how much I feel we’re able to or we need to pull the trigger on those possibilities. Those comments quickly made the usual rounds on social media and turned into fodder for sports talk radio shows fatigued from talking about the New York Giants being the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention or seeking a break from dissecting the Mets trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. In the immediate aftermath of Steinbrenner’s comments, the Red Sox and Blue Jays made investments to enhance playoff rosters from last season. In the roughly 50-plus hours since Steinbrenner’s comments, the Red Sox and Blue Jays added payrolls and made moves they hope will bolster their pitching. The Red Sox were first to strike, trading with former executive Chaim Bloom to land Sonny Gray from the St.