NEW YORK - Happy Holidays, George Steinbrenner! Your Yankees are the only team to be slapped with a luxury tax bill.
The Yankees were told by the commissioner's office they owe $11.82-million, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The payment is due Jan. 31.
A tax rate of 17.5 percent this year means the Yankees' final payroll, for tax purposes, was $184.5-million. The other 29 teams stayed under the tax threshold of $117-million established by the collective bargaining agreement.
Commissioner Bud Selig pushed for the tax to discourage high-revenue teams from far outspending rivals. "One year's experience is not sufficient to make a judgment, but we are pleased with the increase in competitive balance on the field," said Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's chief operating officer.
Yankees president Randy Levine declined comment.
New York, which won the AL pennant but lost to Florida in the World Series, had estimated its tax would be between $11-million and $12-million.
Unlike regular payroll figures, the luxury tax is based on payrolls for 40-man rosters and includes about $8-million per team for benefits.
In 2004 the threshold increases to $120.5-million and the tax rate goes up to 22.5 percent. New York's projected luxury tax payroll for next season is between $175-million and $180-million.
The luxury tax in the new agreement, which runs through 2006, is much steeper than the one baseball had from 1997 to 1999.
Eight teams paid tax in those three years, topped by Baltimore, which had a 1997-99 total tax of $10.6-million. The Yankees paid $9.9-million in that period, and no other team paid more than $2.8-million.
In addition to the tax, the Yankees project they will pay $50-million for 2003 toward the revenue-sharing plan, up from $32-million the previous year.
In other news, Steinbrenner and other top executives were subpoenaed by a New York state commission investigating the distribution of free tickets to public officials.
Subpoenas were issued to Levine and chief operating officer Lonn Trost, according to documents reviewed under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The subpoenas direct then-executives to turn over records on complimentary tickets for the 2002 and 2003 regular season and playoffs by Jan. 14. They were also ordered to appear at the commission's offices Jan. 21 to give depositions.
DIAMONDBACKS: Sandy Johnson was promoted to vice president and senior assistant general manager. Bob Miller was promoted to assistant GM.
MARLINS: Negotiations for a new ballpark are in progress less than a week after the deal appeared dead, the Miami Herald reported. Talks were revived after the Marlins agreed to consider the site of the city-owned Orange Bowl. The team also backed off the requirement for a retractable roof, bringing the price down to $200-million.
RANGERS: After possible trades involving Alex Rodriguez fell apart, the team began work on a likely $725,000, one-year contract with outfielder David Dellucci, who became a free agent when he wasn't offered a contract by the Yankees. He hit .176 for New York after being obtained from Arizona, where the outfielder played for manager Buck Showalter in 1998-2000. The Rangers don't expect to finish any deals until Friday.
