Larry Lucchino seems really upset at George Steinbrenner:

After the agreement had been reached, Lucchino initially offered a brusque “no comment” when reached by The New York Times. Then he pulled a 180 with his position.
“No, I’ll make a comment. The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” Lucchino told The Times.

How do you really feel, Larry?
This surprised me a bit, because it appeared to me that the Yankees were trying to keep their payroll low so they wouldn’t have to pay the luxury tax. But according to this article, the tax is only going to be about 7 million. I still think the Yankees will jettison Mondesi and White at some point, so it may not end up at the 153 million it currently stands at.
My advice to Lucchino: if you want to beat the Yankees, you’re going to have to open the checkbook.