The former Yankees outfielder turned podcaster took Steinbrenner to task for his recent comments where he claimed the team does not necessarily turn a profit despite being one of the most valuable in all of sports.

Frazier played five of his seven big-league seasons (2017-21) with the Yankees, amassing 29 home runs and 97 RBIs in 807 plate appearances in 228 games. He had a .761 OPS in pinstripes before he was traded to the Chicago White Sox.

Clint Frazier Called Hal Steinbrenner Out For ‘Playing The Poverty Card’

Under Hal Steinbrenner’s leadership the Yankees have gone from the Evil Empire to just another big-market club, much to the dismay of fans. They have been passed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and even the New York Mets, for high-end free agents.

So Steinbrenner’s comments this week, where he reiterated the $300 million annual payroll is unsustainable and said not to assume the Yankees are profitable despite a reported more than $700 million in annual revenue, rubbed many the wrong way. Frazier was one.

“A man that owns a team worth $8.2 billion is kind of crying poverty,” Frazier said. “If indeed the New York Yankees did profit $700 million, and then Hal Steinbrenner does not spend like a man that owned a company that made $700 million in profit … if you’re saying no one is making more money than you, make sure it’s going toward a good cause.”

Spending obviously does not correlate to winning, but it doesn’t hurt. The Yankees had the third-highest payroll in MLB in 2025, behind both the Dodgers and Mets, and of course made the postseason for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.

The Dodgers have won the World Series in consecutive years — and won their division, the NL West, in 13 of the past 14 seasons — but the Mets’ spending netted them just 83 wins and a second-place finish in the NL East.

The Yankees Are Trying To Optimize Player Development To Their Own Detriment

Frazier came up in the Cleveland Guardians system but was traded in 2016 in a package that brought reliever Andrew Miller to the Bronx. He has seen the team’s player development apparatus first hand, and it is remarkable.

“They can find diamonds in the rough and needles in the haystacks of what players actually bring to the table,” Frazier said. “I think that’s one of the better things that they’ve built.”

Still, Frazier was a top-5 draft pick in his draft year (2013) and spoke first hand about how some of the Yankees’ developmental issues in relying on technology.

“It can become a little bombarding in regards to, you lose just the playing side of things,” Frazier said. “You start to think about the things that the Yankees are highlighting and the things that they want you to change.

“It ultimately puts you in a state of ‘I’m not free flowing anymore as a player, because now I’ve got this thought up here that’s definitely taken away of the thought of focusing on the task at hand.’ It can be confusing for the players.”