Calling Yankees 'cheap' really irks Hal Steinbrenner: Report

Want to get a rise out of Hal Steinbrenner without mentioning the name A-Rod? Try saying "cheap."

That's cheap as in skinflint, tightwad or penny-pincher. Words not normally associated with the New York Yankees.

In an interview with the New York Post's Joel Sherman on Wednesday, Steinbrenner said the idea that the Yankees — just two days after losing out on the Yoan Moncada bidding war — have become thrifty just isn't fair.

"[Our payroll] is about as high as it has ever been," Steinbrenner told the Post. "And on top of that add the roughly $30 million we spent last [July] when we saw a pretty good foreign market, one of the best there has been and we got six or seven of the top 10 or 11 guys. So there is money spent for not just now, but the future."

Steinbrenner offered $12.5 million for Moncada, only to double it over the weekend for the Yankees' final offer, a figure GM Brian Cashman said was rejected without a chance to counter. (A $25 million offer would have meant $50 million in all because of the penalty for the Yankees having gone over the international spending limit.)

"For Moncada, that was just how far I was going to go for a player who is 19 years old and at least two years away from the majors," Steinbrenner said. "It was a hell of an offer. It might have ended up at $35 million if I continued to be in it."

And why the sudden frugality?

Here's another C-word to make Steinbrenner bristle — contract. Like the $61 million albatross A-Rod currently holds over the club's head.